Suffer By My Claws
by Suffering Praetorian
Summary: My name is Suffer. I've faced too much. Lost too much. As a Xenomorph, it only looks easy. From the moment I chestburst, to the moment of becoming legend, I give this to you. A tale of heroism, tragedy, and mystery. This is my story.
1. Chapter 1

Suffer.

That is my name. Well, not my Xenomorph name retrieved of by my Queen, but the names my captors, the humans, named me by. Suffer.

Now, when I mean captors, I do not mean that my name had come out of the "Program" that the leader of Weyland-Yutani puts "special" Xenomorphs in. I was never a captive, I was never a prisoner. My captors as in the captors of my species, in which those few sisters I do have that have been caught, like the living Praetorian legend, Number 6.

Number 6 is also a name given to by the humans, but not her Xenomorph name. At this time, I am also a Praetorian, but this is my story I will soon explain to you and I will not be someone of that rank until the very end...

My species, the Xenomorph, another name given to us by the humans, has been thriving in these parts for a long time… My Queen and the other two leaders of the horde, Warrior Dome legend Nethead and Number 6, who have both the favor of the Matriarch for their hard journeys, insist we cleanse the rest of the colony before we move to a more suitable location.

The humans will never get any one of these Xenomorphs again.

And I will die to make sure these intentions remain intact.

Now, for as long as humans have been studying our kind and poking at our sides with sticks and mimicking our feral growls through mirrors, they believe we are thoughtless creatures with the intelligence of a small primate, or as the humans indicate it to, a monkey, or as a realistic creature would indicate it to, a Macaca Fascicularis.

Let me tell you one thing.

We do _not_ have the mere intelligence of a monkey, who through other animals may seem smart, but to reality seem ridiculously stupid. Aliens, like the ones in the games/movies/books that humans like to read/play/watch, are never stupid. And let me tell you Xenomorphs aren't going to be the first.

Now, about a train of thought… We do not have thoughts processed without our Queen. We cannot think like a human, but let me tell you we do think more than humans. That doesn't make much sense, does it? Well, I never said, or, hissed, that it would.

In fact, I am not hissing every word I speak right now. This is me with my train of thought. These are the words I think, for Xenomorphs can speak, but through the brains, and we cannot speak normal "human conversations", but I will tell you more about that later, if you want me to. This is just a common introduction to the story you will be told, and I intend to keep it that way…

Now back to that train of thought. How odd is it that a Xenomorph cannot process thoughts, but is able to think all of this before you? Does that not make a simpleton human tilt his head at such an oddity?

My apologies, humans don't tilt their heads.

Anyway, for the next part of this… Our heads. Humans believe we have transparent heads in which eyes peek out of through the slender, silky surface… Let me tell you this… Our heads are opaque and we cannot see. We use our sense of smell and feel and actual sixth sense to detect things before us. Not visually, but we can "see" what we "look" at.

Oh yes. Our genders is the next thing. We mate sexually, only Drones mate with the Queen, but for the rest of us we pick a mate like every other species. We're not both genders, we're not one gender, whatever. We have males and females. What people seem not to understand is that only males can be Drones and Warriors. Females get the highest ranks with Praetorian and Queen. Only females are Praetorians, not males or whatever. This is so only females can take the Queen's place if she dies too early, and if a Royal Egg isn't hatched yet. And also it can't hatch too early either, because the egg remains in stasis until the Queen dies.

Humans. Or, Homo Sapiens.

Very stupid.

But I have lived a very long time, although Xenomorphs in the wild can only live up to about thirty years before death, if we don't die from "gun" fire first. This story may be long, so settle in.

But, as long as I have ever lived, I have slaughtered humans mercilessly, because Xenomorphs do not have remorse or pity, and not a one can kill me. Their "guns" and "grenades" are no match for my durability, and they will never catch me and my siblings ever again.

Thus, they nicknamed me Suffer. And let me tell you, the name stuck.

Although my horde does not approve of our human names, the Drones still call us that anyway so it doesn't matter. The fussiest one about it is the Queen, but her highest ranking warriors, Nethead and Number 6, have all been nicknamed by the human species.

So she can't really do anything but deal with it. And I have to agree, I would hate the Queen constantly snapping at me about my human name. I kind of like mine, warns off other Xenomorphs that get decide to get trippy with me, who knows.

Despite the hardships of life at the Xenomorph society, we do have fun in a natural sort of way. We can occasionally play a game of chase, scaring humans, and a cute little Xenomorph tag if you will.

Now, there is one more thing I must acknowledge you with before we can begin my story starting as a small brood erupting from my host's chest cavity, inside the embryo that was implanted there by my transporter, the Face-hugger, who had been successfully wrapped around the human's head and left there before he was done with his duty and died. However, no Xenomorph feels any pity for the Face-huggers once doing their jobs. That was how life intended them to be. Don't spend the way feeling sorry.

Anyway, it is that I have been through too much in these days, and too many close ones have been lost. That last part is what the last thing stupid humans have always said we don't have – not just thoughts, but feelings.

We feel in a greater way than humans, with more nerve-endings due to out need of survival since we cannot see through our opaque dome-heads. We do not mate for life, but sometimes we mate several times with the same Xenomorph because some small feelings can occupy us there. And some do mate for life, going against what we're supposed to do, due to these feelings. We greatly hate a human that harms our own kind, and we love our siblings just as much.

You pathetic organism, humans. Think nothing but yourself has feelings. Even I know the Yautja society has feelings, although even the bigger, stronger, female Predators do not hunt. I sense things far beyond your compare, and am part of a union much stronger than your puny brains can hold within knowledge.

Now, I think that that is enough for introduction. You got to know me, although I do not know you, nor do I wish to. It is far beyond my own comparison of wanting to know the knowledge of a…

_Homo Sapien…_

* * *

Absorbed. Sucking. Draining. Beating. Pulsing.

I pushed abundantly against the flesh straining to hold me against freedom. I few sticky strands of tissue enclosed me in the chest cavity that I had been borne into. But I needed air and light, and fast.

The repulsive scream of a human sounded from above me, and I thought I could almost feel the air in the area. _Up… Up… _instinct warned me. _Up… Up…_

I shoved disdainfully against the hard skin. Another retched screech filled up my "ears" and I screeched right back at him. I gave another reek as I gave another thrust up, and the horrible screams that filled me almost scared me, but again it was short-lasting, because it is impossible for Xenomorphs to feel fear. Caution, perhaps, but not fear.

Soon I had broken free from my bonds to the world, and as soon as I had touched air I gave a horrible cry, and a white mist of breath clouded around my cylinder-shaped head. My tiny teeth, metallic and white, gleamed in the late-night sky, although underneath a roof I very much was.

I wormed the rest of my tail free from around the ribcage bone it had been latched to. During my brief period inside of the host's body, I had snuggled much too close to a lung for my liking, but it had been nice – warm, durable, fresh, meaty… Bloody.

I could hear another faint call in the distance of my home, which instinct alerted me that this was my territory, and I had a sudden instinctual urge to go towards it. But I held fast to my position on the ground. During my short existence, I had felt a growing urge for food to enter me. Instinct also alerted me that this was because Xenomorphs were a very hungry, fast-reproducing species, and that this was a feeling I would get often.

I growled faintly as I gathered my bearings – no I could not see, but I smelled around. My electrical "alien" blood, gave me an actual good feeling to things.

A trail to my left, enclosed in a dark shadowy space, which I kind of like, since my species prefers the dark anyways, and the right, leading to a place that smelled sharply of freshly-dewed grass, trees, plants, soil, a species of worm, and all that nature stuff. The rusted smell of the Refinery, and also the way that the screech I had heard previous, to the left, enticed me more than the scent of the outdoors.

I admit, writhing on the ground with your tail and tiny legs is no easy task. I was wrestling with my "eye's" angle to see where I was going. A silent humming that erupted from my field of hearing was getting louder the further I trudged down the tunnel.

After an hour of casually sliding, leaping, wriggling, worming, writhing, across the floor, I finally had two legs and two arms long enough and strong enough to support my weight. I found this task much simpler than the previous embodiment – and thus I used it much more. My tail helped support my weight from tipping, and walking on my legs I soon learned fast. And I knew that was my last time of floor-writhing, because I knew in about 24 hours, my fullest height would be achieved, whether I be a 6-foot alien or a 7-foot monster.

The Hive – I soon realized that was what it was called – was getting closer, and soon enough the screeches of eating or fighting Aliens was soon loud to the point of making me flinch.

I halted outside the closed Refinery door, locked and bolted. Luckily, there was a hole in the wall too small for a real Xenomorph, but big enough for me. I crawled through it and broke through the other side.

A chorus of Xenomorphs was inside the room, battling for a piece of human meat previously cleaved from the occasionally curved tail of an Alien.

I stepped back, alarmed, but I felt at home. I slunk from my hole in the wall and approached the Xenomorphs, the hungry feeling started to come back over me as I smelt the fresh limb of meat. The fleshy meat-hungry feeling back in the corridor had waned me from harsh to slight, but now I could feel the claws of hungry pain stabbing me from the inside as though I had a chestburster myself.

I slid forward to the stench of rotting flesh, but a Xenomorph turned to me and snapped his jaws, and soon enough opened them to reveal his inner maw, flexing and curling and dashing in and out of his mouth. What humans always mistake as a tongue. It is not a tongue.

It is what we eat out of, our inner jaw. In the back of our outer jaw, there is no throat, just that inner jaw. And when we bite with our inner jaw, in the back of that there is a throat… that's what we eat out of. How would you like it if I called your throat your tongue… is any of this making sense to you?

Anyway, a Xenomorph beside him turned on him as well. "Leave her alone," she hissed, tail lashing side-to-side. "She's just a worm-ling."

The male, taller, Alien just utter a feral growl. "As long as she stay away from the meaty parts. I caught this, you know."

The older female Xenomorph retorted, "I get it. But she's just chestbursted, obviously. Give her some entrails."

Although he did not seem entirely pleased that he had to spare any bits of the kill that was already getting tangled with by several other Xenomorphs, the gruff-hissing male Alien tossed at me what little scrappy things he could give me. A heart, a liver, a few chewed parts of muscle. Nothing all that great.

I silently crawled away with what I could carry, but I was still too small to carry a lot of it. I kept tripping and landing fast-first in the heart, soon leaving it inedible since it was now possibly scarfed with bacteria.

"Let me help you with that," hissed a Xenomorph over me. I could see that elder, female Xenomorph that had snipped at the protective other approach past me and lift up whatever was left intact. "Where do you want it?" she asked as she looked around the interior of the Refinery.

I "looked" at the female Alien. Since I had not yet gathered the ability to telepathically talk between my squad mates, I just flicked my tail at the corner of the corridors interior, whose hull glistened in the late-evening moonlight, the walls thatched with our gooey, drippy, substance that we spread on our hive walls. A drippy material perfectly matched for keeping humans to be face-hugged and to give way to more of our kind. I remember my host. Still an hour's walk for a tiny chestburster.

The Alien dropped the meat at the corner I had indicated, and without another word dispersed back into the crowd that she stayed huddled with.

I eat what I could manage, and even ate more so I could stay fuller. I knew the nutrients would suffice me for the meantime, but as most chestbursters were, we are very hungry and picky and do not know hunger very well, so we always want more. But I had an urge not to listen to my stomach and decide to listen to my head because how come I had the slightest feeling that getting back to the aggressive male Alien would not mean more mealtime.

Just a thought.

A next idea was a sleep place – there were so many of my kind here that I could not possible wonder where to start with dosing off. Maybe there was a hole in the wall or a ventilation system that spared a crack or crevice to slumber in.

I crept along the edge of the wall and braced, leaping off on my already-growing legs to a further hole. It was deep, and I knew that once I woke up I would be fully-grown, so I stayed on the smart side and decided not to go in a chestburster-sized hole or my life would be over before I knew it.

I placed my two fore-claws on some holds in the crack, and I flipped backwards and entered tail-first.

I curled around and around and soon placed my head down. I whipped my tail protectively around my vulnerable body, and since I knew that that was going to be enough to be defend myself, and I had my own kind here to look after me, I placed my head against the cold Refinery wall's surface and tried to slip off. But it was not all that cold to me, as I say again, because we adapted to that kind of thing. And my silky-smooth dome head was cold by itself anyway.

It took a few minutes, but sleep's embrace did come.

I lifted me head to find out that I was a lot larger than previously, and that I had been lucky to pick such a massive hole. How long had I been in my slumber, impossible to know, despite my senses of the time of day beyond the Refinery's brisk walls.

The Xenomorphs in the middle had subsided to the areas around, keeping close to themselves and talking mostly with their minds, however some of them growled something and some of they screamed at one another. You see, it is not so that we can just speak through our minds – our vocabulary just expands that way.

I could locate a few other Xenomorphs that also crept into the corridors around the clearing as well, not seeing them but noting their presence carefully – two females, the more common side of our species, and a male. The male and one of the females were gracefully climbing out of their holes, but the other female was wounded and needed rest. I could hear her uneven heartbeat and the quiet rasping of her breaths.

The food that had once been placed in the center chamber was devoured, and only the male gruff Xenomorph I had confronted earlier was perched beside the bloody, rotten remains. His tail flicked occasionally, mostly addressing the others to leave him alone.

After a moment of dense thoughts, I decided that finally I would come out of the hole that had comforted me briefly, my prehensile tail brushed smoothly against the cold, metal wall, scratching scathingly across the rusted surface.

As a few of my other siblings dispatched from their resting grounds, letting their inner jaws flash occasionally as they stretched their serrated maws in a restless yawn, they slunk down to the center of the room as if to wait for something. I loped down and paused, standing with my stuck-together claws clinking against the metal floor in a puzzled state of confusion. What were they doing?

Growling, scratching, and hissing, a silent voice crept up to me, and I was held in a lock of stated fear, as if my mind was being invaded. It was not like my brothers/sisters were reading my mind, nor was I letting them, for we have that power, and it wasn't like I was reading one of theirs. This was a deadly, feral, scratching sound.

_Move to the colonial housing grounds and harvest the remaining opposition._

I watched in growing interest as the Xenomorphs that had slithered to the front and center of the room let out reeking screeches as they belted towards the door. The Hive was on the move. And I had no idea way. I was just sitting there with my head tilted in confusion.

"Aren't you going to come too? You don't look wounded."

I spun around as a male, Warrior Ridged Xenomorph approached me, his tail flagging in a sign indicating lack of aggression. I was still wary, and stood by ground.

"Well? Are you mute?"

I growled at him, and shook my head. I tried speech for the first time – what did I sound like? "I don't even know _what _we're doing."

The male seemed confused, then gave me a quick look up-and-down. "You must be newer and don't know the Matriarch yet. I'm surprised – most worm-lings sense her presence in these chambers and don't have to be told to listen or follow her orders."

I flattened my tail in muffled embarrassment. "No, I didn't sense her," I growled, losing patience.

The male ruffed up his tail, and when I got a better look at it I could see it was curled. I stared at him, puzzled, before he began again. "Well, when you hear her, obey. Only the wounded stay behind. And obviously, in just a few hours you'll be a full-grown Xenomorph, so you're allowed to come along with us."

I snorted and decided to change the subject. "What's up with your tail?" I asked, approached him to get a better look.

"Oh this?" He lifted up his tail so I could examine the blade. "I got pelted with a "shotgun" and fell down a cliff. I landed on my tail and it curled around. I can still use it to, just not in the same way you others can. Kind of looks like a barb, doesn't it? It's where I get my name."

I glared at him. "Your name is Broken Tail?"

"No, no, no," he insisted, shaking his head quickly. "My name's Barb. I've lived long enough for the humans to recognize me and give me a name."

"Oh." Big idiot.

Barb just grinned at me, or so it kind of sensed like that. "Don't worry, it's not the first time. So, you can stand by me in the rush. And stay close – you already have fighting moves and killing blows in your instincts, unless you don't have that either, like you didn't sense the Queen first thing, so you should be okay for the most part, but they're basic and don't get offensive, especially to "shotguns"."

I didn't extremely appreciate his comment on the Queen, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. "All right," I growled, "show me the way."

Immediately, he started to streak towards the opening as did many other left-behind Xenomorphs. It meant we were in the back of the rush attack, but it didn't really matter because I was told specifically not to even be offensive, and I was smart enough to know the Aliens in the front were the first to get shot.

He was so fast on his legs I couldn't stand it at first, but I realized I could move that fast, too. I hardly knew we had such speed in our long but extremely thin legs with our fused fore-fingers and double thumbs. I was racing along the hallways, but when I passed Barb he blinked at me, surprised.

"Hey! You're pretty fast, worm-ling!"

I grinned – and couldn't help it. At least I was getting to know someone around here. I wasn't totally alone out there. I was fast, and I knew someone, a pretty cool Xenomorph to, since he was named by the humans, and I liked his compliment to me, too. Made me feel like somebody, and not the only left-out Alien here.

I raced across the metal ground, pelting so fast a few others looked at me in shock. I felt fast, and I could feel the glares of a couple of other female Xenomorphs as I bested their running speed.

Barb tried his limbs hard to catch up with me, and I had to slow down or else I'd get tried. He abundantly pawed at my tail with his forepaw. "Wait up! You're getting into the middle line, fall back!"

I paused my speeding pace so he could slide in next to me. His curled tail flicked to-and-fro. "You're fast – like, really fast. But you need to know where you place is. Come on, let's wait for the others to slide by us before we begin again. Once instinct tells you all your moves, and you have enough skill to survive out there, then you can fight in the front. I just don't want another worm-ling to die."

I paused. "Another one?"

He nodded. "Yes," he growled, looking up at the rusted ceiling of the Refinery. "A worm-ling tried frontlines and got blasted by a "smart gun." I don't want that same thing to happen to you. So just stay back here and be patient. Life is a lot better than the brief thrill of battle."

Gradually, the other Xenomorphs zipped by us. As we ran a bit further, the old scent of muddy soil and rain filled my scents. Various forms of flowers, wildlife, human camps, rusted metal parts, birds, dewy grass, and tree bark were all around. And then I noticed for the first time I was going to be able to see the outdoor skies.

I had no idea with what sunlight felt like. Or moonlight, but I could tell that the sun was up and shining. Would it feel like I was absorbing the heat? Our skin was very absorbent. But Xenomorphs preferred the complete darkness, and we won't like the heat very much. Flamethrowers are our worst opponents. Marines holding those are our worst fears, like the time Ellen Ripley torched our Face-hugger eggs.

But I could "see" the metal grate that led to the outdoors, and immediately the wave of about 100 Xenomorphs poured out into the open. All the Xenomorphs would spread out so it only looked like about four or five of us, but there were various different camps about 10 Xenomorphs needed to go to each.

I let Barb led me to a team of about 8 other Xenomorphs to the left. The heavy metal, clinking Marine housing chamber was already getting raided by a crew of others to our right, and I could hear a Marine voice shout out.

"_Xenomorph activity entering the compound! Keep your eyes open!"_

A few Alien screams sounded from inside the area as they attacked. A few moments later I could hear the yowls of the humans.

The area me and Barb were heading was led to underneath a tunnel complete with arches. The hard, compact soil squished and smeared underneath my deadly claws, but with just a quick flick I scraped it off.

"Hey!" spat another Xenomorph behind me, her voice growling in anger. "Don't tread on me."

"Sorry," I started to say, before I realized an extremely loud ricocheting was catapulting over the area. Bullet shots met the crumbled stones behind us, and we all evaded as the rocks falling. One of the later Aliens screeched in surprise as the heavy boulder toppled over them and splattered molecular acid blood all over the place. The only thing poking out was his tail, severed by the fall.

It was my first time watching one of our own die.

A rippling sensation occurred in my heart, and I lashed my tail out and perched on top a rock. I lifted up my head to reveal my metallic but sharp teeth. A durable scream echoed out of my mouth, and I snapped my inner jaw out, flexing its tiny teeth in the sunlight.

"Now it's mad, Rookie," chortled one of the Marines. "But good shot for the most part. Now just blow the damn things up."

As I leapt off the rock fast enough for the grenade expelled from the "Pulse Rifle" exploded into it, Barb telepathically alerted us, "All right. Sneak your way around the compound and don't attack in the full daylight. Use your sneakiness to your advantage and lure your prey. Kill them all, and then harvest."

I had no idea what that was, but I agreed. I departed from the group and made my way down the watery slope of the hill. The brownish grass squished beneath me, but this time I decided not to flick it back. No one else was with me, but I wasn't about to ruin my cover.

The compact ground beneath me smelled fierce of carrion and other parts and oils the Marines must have dug into the ground. Pipes, drills, explosives, mines, that sort of thing. But not that it was very effective because I could smell mines a few feet away and I was more than careful enough to avoid it. There was a similar smell like our Hive's home, the differing scent of rotten decay and filth, but that was much stronger than this. Besides, I liked that scent better.

A few huddled Marines were organizing their war plan. I could hear them from here.

"All of our other base camps are being ripped to pieces. Omega One will be here with evacuation soon. We don't stand a chance. The damn Hive must've wanted to really kick our ass well and make sure we stay out for good."

Another one piped in, "Yes, but stay alert. Fight until Evac arrives. Then leave. Gather what supplies you can, then let's get the heck out of here!"

As the Marines split up, I dodged to a narrow outcropping. I remember what Barbs had told me, and that was to use my stealth. Instinct told me that we were stealthy creatures, and that our attacks were limited strictly to melee. Then I saw my target.

It was "Rookie", the Marine that had shot off the boulder and had crunched my sibling. His gun was shaky, and he wobbled nervously as he made his way towards his supply bundle for any extra ammunition or stims that could be effective when he was wounded. He searched frantically, but I let out the faintest scream, then ducked behind cover.

Rookie looked up fast – and scanned the area with his disgusting eyes. He was scared, but Xenomorphs showed no mercy or remorse. "Huh?" he asked, as he got up with his "Pulse Rifle" aimed at the area I had screeched. "I'll go check it out." He made his way forward, his eyes looking for any Xenomorphs. He had his hand held up in a clench, and his eyes were nervously darting. I could smell his reeking odor – his scent betrayed his nature, as it did all things. He stopped about right where I had yelled out.

I dropped to the ground behind him and grabbed him, lifting up my tail to pierce through his armor and into his torso. The thin, sharp blade was thrust forward and I belted my tail right through his chest. He tried to yell, but I wrapped by fore-claws around his face and held him there. He writhed and tried to warn the others, but he was held fast. I used my other free hand to grab out to his shoulder and to pull him further back through the blade. He was soon coughing up and splattering red drops of blood all over me.

As soon as he had died, I disposed his remains on the ground beside me.

Noticing the blood all over the place, a few other Marines looked into the clearing. Suddenly, a voice growled, "Rookie's down!"

I cracked open the ventilation systems with my tail blade and loped into it. It rattled under my claws, and I was quite heavy-sounding and loud in it, but it would have to do. If I was found by the Marines that spotted Rookie's blood, I'd be shredded in only a matter of moments. I smelled those "guns" – and they smelt dangerous.

The sound of rattling guns fired after me, and my tail blade caught on one of the open tears in the crumbling metal. My teeth and lips curled back in a hiss, and I swiped at the lodged debris, freedom soon enveloping my tail and then the action of swift running soon appeared again.

There were other sounds in the ventilation systems as well, including a brisk-sounding Xenomorph in distress as she was getting fired at. Bullets rippled along her flank and she screeched into the growing day. Soon after, she fell over, and molecular acid blood leaked from her flesh and blocked the exit, since the acid made a big hole in the vents I could not cross. I grew soon irritated at this, since that meant both ways out were being blocked – one by the humans with their guns pointed at the doors, and one a gargantuan hole that was too large to leap across.

I braced my claws along the thinner gaps in the rusted metal. I could hear a few shots outside, and then the scream of another Xenomorph. They were getting more of my kin.

Determination set straight and I flattened myself against the floor and leapt, right over the steaming pool of acid I knew would not affect me, and right over the hole. In my leap, I had spun around to cling to the ceiling of the vent instead, so I could creep right over the gap.

Once over I dropped back down and made on my way. More bullets rippled along the side as a Marine frantically shot everywhere to stop the approaching enemy, but the Alien had already gripped the human with its fused-together fingers, and was lifting open its outer jaw for a snap with the inner one. Inadvertently, the Marine tipped sideways, tumbling the two down a hill. I paused to smell what had happened to them. The Marine had gotten away because the Xenomorph had been cut through the stomach with a drill poking out of the ground. The man slipped to his legs rejoin the battle.

I hissed in frustration, my tail lashing to and fro. That was another of my kind dead, and I could hear the Queen's frantic tone in my head.

_Fall back! Harvest what you can then regroup at starting wave!_

I was starting to feel lost, but I let my instinct guide me. I could not see, no, but thus that did not stop me as I trampled through the futile ground. The rust occasionally snared up at me, and I whisked it away with impatience.

Impatience.

Something I realized I was starting to have – a bad attitude. I snorted and let the irritated thoughts die down with the sound of the humans' "guns" as they whisked off the last of us. Then I realized that that must mean was a little while behind. I glared over my shoulders, my trot not casual.

As I squeezed into a nearby corridor, I lashed out at the metal walls to rip it – if I could break out of here I could regroup before they suspected me dead.

But as I cracked my tail against the metal, realization flooded over as the blade just bounced harmlessly on it. I tried a few more times to see if it would dent, and then I could work from there with my head, teeth, claws, and tail, but there was none. I was lost in here.

Panic took over as I scratched scathingly along the sides for anything, a nook for the claw, a pierce for the tail, a wounded spot for my inner jaw. But the metal surface was clear of anything except for fuzzy mold, bacteria that smelled dreadful, and some rust speckles here and there.

The feral growl that emitted from my chest told me to stop trying to break through because this human camp site did not last forever. I gutted up what I could and soon enough was whisking my way through the undergrowth again. Well, metal undergrowth if you'll go that far. My senses reached out for any corridor that offered the smell of bullets, wet dewy leaves, or soil, or even a little sunshine, but not came to me.

A hiss formed there again, in my chest, but struggling kept it inside. If I was close to the Marines, the last thing I was going to need was to be caught. I kept low to the floor, but I knew that no sensible human would be sticking his face curiously into the ventilation system.

The area grew darker, but I liked dark, so I hindered to those spots.

I searched on and on, but there was nothing out there. I signed and continued to make my way on then. If I kept my mind to it, I would be able to escape, would I not? I was not going in circles, but with my senses getting sharper at every thought, the way paved to the exit was soon getting clearer.

And once the scent of soil, dirt, and fresh air wafted over me, I bolted towards the reunion point.

_Keep going… Keep going… Keep going… Don't stop!_

The ledges pickled across the clearing were not taking sides – they gave me more cover than not, but they also proved as good obstacles as my snagged my fore-claws on them and occasionally fell flat on my face. I shook off any moment of pain and continued on, adrenaline flooding through me, my heart pumping molecular acid blood through my veins, telling me to keep going on.

As I skirted the corner, a saw a Marine pointing his gun right at me.

I stopped and let out a hiss, and once I reached my senses past him, I could tell that Barb and the surviving siblings we shared were staring at me in a lock of pain and fear and shock. The Marine reached his hand for a magazine clip, and discarded the old one that no longer served him. He shakily reached for the extra, and stuffed it in, then pulled back on that little stick I had no idea was for full reload.

One of the Xenomorphs had decided they should try to help out, but the Marine used his motion tracker to detect the sneaking Alien. Bullets riddled the cylinder head and soon the Xenomorph died, sending shards of acid and disdainful cries into the night. He looked up and saw the others. They immediately ducked behind the rocks to the entrance of the Refinery, not daring to make the same mistake this Xenomorph had just attempted.

Standing my ground, I looked for a possible way out – a narrow cleft where I could be invisible to all shots, or a good spot to hide behind, just for the moment. But all I had was a good stretch of ground to be shot in. Nice.

The Marine focused on me again, shaky. Suddenly I realized I had no choice but to leap at him. I braced for the pounce, and obviously Barb noticed this for he screeched at me, "No!" But it was already too late, I had launched myself off the ground with a caterwaul, and had landed right on the Marine. Bullets rippled along the air, but I swerved right by them, dodging them and landing before the Marine. I swiped at his hand and his gun flew out, disarming him.

Stepping back a few feet, the Marine stared at me with fear, for he knew he would die. I reached for his head with my deadly claws and I soon started wrenching his miserable head savagely off his shoulders. The ripping flesh thrilled me – Barb mentioned the thrill of battle – and I tossed the scream-ridden head to the side. I approached it, looking down at it with a lashing tail, and I stepped on it, crushing it with my weight.

"How could you do that?" asked Barb, leaping towards me, his tail streaming behind him. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

I could see his face and hear his voice in my mind – he was overridden with awe.

"It wasn't anything, I just attacked him." I shrugged and slipped past him to make my way to where the other Xenomorphs had been hiding. They glared disdainfully at the spot where their suicidal sibling had been felled, and they curled their saliva-dripping lips at the human whose head had been pelted to smithereens.

We all started the way back, some dripping from wounds, others okay like me. But I felt like a coward hiding in the vents as my siblings had risked their lives to kill.

The trip back stank – the complaints of other Xenomorphs filled my "ears" as they babbled on and on. There were at least 40 of us left remaining of the 100 that had gone to the battle, and it made me a bit tense, my tail curling in a new hatred.

Once we returned, the wounded Xenomorphs that had stayed behind looked up at our dripping-with-blood, slim frames, and I could hear murmurs from around us. I knew that they could tell that the Marines had gotten away with this and had also escaped, winning the fight and taking their supplies with them as well. The gruff Xenomorph that had given me entrails last night glared at us darkly, knowing he now had no food.

Then I realized that these wounded Xenomorphs had been depending on us, to get them food, to feed them, to take care of them. When one of us gets wounded, that is another that cannot help take care of us. We need each other.

But that did not stop the glares. Barb padded up to me and hissing right back at them, his tail curling off and around his shoulder. His penetrating glare, although he very much lacked eyes, stared at all of them, challenging them for a fight. They stared back, but did not move. They flexed their claws and snapped their inner jaws.

I glared back at them as well – I knew it wasn't nice, but we tried our hardest. And if they wanted to go out there and fight all the time, they could go and try. I realized I was mad at these ungrateful Xenomorphs and I hadn't even been on more than two fights. I fumbled around my paws for a moment, my claws gathering up the strength they had lost from climbing in vents instead of fighting.

The Xenomorphs that had lived subsided to the walls around the place, climbing in for sleep and rest. But I didn't want to go sleep, I was hungry. I had only been feed entrails in my life before, and that was hours ago!

I scratched along a wall for some food, but everything that any Xenomorph had ever brought in had been eaten. I could tell; this was one big, hungry Hive.

"_What _is going on here?"

It was definitely an authority's tone, speaking out above the rest. A tone that oozed with impatience, a tone that sparkled with different meanings at once. A tone so deadly it could defend against the sharpest claws. A tone so fierce one could have mistaken it for our enemy the Rogue Alien.

I turned my head to see who had spoken. She was a slim Xenomorph, her frame large, much larger than any I had ever seen in my brief existence. She was also beautiful as well, but she bore once mark that could determine her above the rest, even if her Praetorian crown and massive size didn't – the number 6 planted right on her forehead, explaining a worm-hood of captivity.

Praetorian legend, Number 6.

Squealing immediately sounded through the room, as Xenomorphs ducked for cover inside the Refinery Walls. I was stunned – why were they so afraid of her? A few male Xenomorphs paused to look at her, then they dashed away to refrain from getting caught. Barb, I, and a few others, at least 20+, stayed within eye sight of the frighteningly large, menacing Alien.

A serrated maw departed to reveal white breath that clung in the air like clouds. Her tail lashed from side to side, and she stood up on her hind legs a lot like Praetorian usually did. Claws that brought death hung loose by her side, but her inner jaw clicked in and out. A sign of brutal impatience from some a monster that had brought waves of panic over humans constantly.

This was a Xenomorph no one messed with. If you were to mess with someone of this authority, this crazily smart, dangerous Alien, you would get shredded. A part of me did fear her, another awed her, another respected her, and another was jealous of her.

"Is no one there to answer me? Pity, I expected more of a Xenomorph Hive. Or did the Yautja cut out all your inner jaws?"

No response. Impatience flooded her thoughts, I could tell as she paced towards the closest Xenomorph and snatched her neck. The female Alien scrambled back, but the grip of Number 6 was much too tight. The grip of claws around her throat was strong enough for blood to start leaking in a sizzling mess along her windpipe and all over the floor, tail rigid with fear.

But again, not fear, but caution.

"Answer me!" roared Number 6 as she pinned the fearful Xenomorph against the ground, swiping her in sizzling blood. The Alien cried out in real pain, writhing against the floor in a swooshing movement. Others just stared.

Number 6 used her delicate yet deathly sharp claws to decapitate the female Xenomorph. The banana-shaped head rolled along the ground for a moment, but Number 6 stopped the movement by putting her paw on it. The horrified screech of the female Xenomorph was the last expression that she had had, thus it was there, implanted right on her berserk face.

The cry of a mourning male wailed over the area. The female's mate, most likely. The smug grin that Number 6 had gotten spread over her face.

"Oh? You loved her, didn't you?" snarled the Praetorian coldly, her gaze impassive, as well as no emotion hidden deep in her luxuriously smooth voice. "Well maybe you should have _said something!"_

Silence. Before finally, I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"We lost the fight." Dead silent.

The only response was a taunting, "Oh? And who're you exactly? I don't remember seeing you in my Horde last fight."

"I… don't have a name yet. I am an 8-hour-old worm-ling. I helped out with the fight. I… I wasn't very helpful though," I stated simply.

"Wasn't helpful?" growled Barb. "Of course you were! You should have seen the way that she killed the Marine trapping us! She was-"

Number 6's voice snarled out, "Silence! I did not give you permission to speak, _Ridged Head._ Let the worm-ling talk for herself." She turned to face me, and it was like if she had eyes they would be narrowed. "So you're so helpful, aren't you? Killed one Marine and suddenly you're the Hive's savior?"

I stiffened, a low growl rising in my throat. "It was just a kill," I snarled, not able to keep the sneering threat out of my voice. "I only killed like two-"

_Wham!_

The claws of a deadly, towering Praetorian stood threateningly over me, tail lashing side to side. "Watch how you speak, worm-ling, and you may just live a little longer." She let go, and I still crouched on the ground, my head throbbing from pain.

It hurt like nothing had ever hurt before. It was so deadly I thought I might die. I let out a wail, not a wormy wail, but a wail showing I would suffer through it. I got to my paws and limped back to where Barb crouched beside me, where he had also been struck by the Praetorian's massive claws. Instead on his face, however, drips of acid, sizzling blood poured down in streaks.

I felt a moment of fear for him – apparently from what instinct told me no one objected the word of Number 6 – and worried for his life. Number 6 could easily kill him and the Queen would not complain in the least bit. As long as the loyalties were still fierce, and the Xenomorphs did nothing wrong, she could slaughter whoever she wanted to. She really didn't even care.

The massive Alien stood over me for a moment. "So you're the great one, aren't you?" she teased, shifting from side to side. "You are just such a natural at this, are you not? So great, that even I must bow down to your extreme skill?"

A silence crept over the area, and I stood my ground, careful not to growl this time around. "O-of course not," I stammered, lowering my head to show the much more authorized female that she was in command, not me.

She sniffed and simply turned her away from me and growled, her tail lashing out at whoever was close enough to her that she may be able to hit. "Good," she spat, still not looking towards my way. "It's about time you Warriors showed me a little bit of respect. You know what I did this for horde, don't you? You know I risked my life constantly and on end so I can make sure my species survives?"

Silence.

No one would face her.

I crouched down besides Barb and smelled out his wounds. Not deep, but probably pretty painful. "You okay?" I asked him, grating my claws along the rusted metal.

"Yeah," he choked out, lashing out with his tail. "She's always like that. No one faces her because she's been in such a bad attitude lately. I don't know what it's about – she never used to act like this. Nethead's not so bad, he knows his place. You'll get used to not talking back to her, but don't especially not in front of a crowd like this one – you or her will be making a fool of themselves."

I sniffed. "She sounds… too… full of herself."

Barb waggled his claws in alarm. "She used to be grateful for the respect she got. But now she just kills anyone that thinks she may be doing harm."

I reached forward and run a claw carefully along his face. "Sorry I did that to you," I sheered, ducking my head.

The larger Xenomorph shook his head. His claws ran in nervous arcs across the Refinery's weathered-down floor. I could tell that he was making sure no more problems were caused, and that I should just keep my mouth, well mind, shut. But he simply said, "It wasn't your fault. I jumped up to protect you. Number 6 often scratches us."

Tilting my head, I asked, "So why is she always grumpy, again?"

Looking up, Barb decided to test his wobbly claws to figure out if they were still usable. After a few test runs without response, he diverted his gaze to me and wrapped his tail in an arc behind him. "Like I said – no one knows. One day she just started getting really nasty. We all thought it may be temporary, but it stayed."

"And how long has it been like that?" I questioned, getting comfortable on the very uncomfortable flooring of the metal building.

Barb flicked his long tail that was spiked at the very end, then he resumed the arcing position with another shifting of his claws, as if determining that his claws were still awake even after his previous check. "A couple of months, almost a year. No one likes it when Number 6 comes to check in on the Hive, her and Nethead usually stay beside the Queen. But when she does, she stays down here for a few days before Nethead comes to pick her up. Nethead is a lot more understanding than she is, and he knows a lot more too. But she is, besides the Queen, the smartest of us all."

I asked, "You don't think captivity may cause her behavior?"

"No, I don't," said Barb. "I think she simply had something bad happen. I hope one day she gets back to normal. She wasn't so arrogant and so full of herself. You know, why don't we go hunt at the back of the Refinery to see if any evacuated humans made camp there."

"They flew away in Evac, they won't be there."

Barb shook his head. "You don't get it. Humans think we're stupid – and they circle around the campsite. They return after a few days. We can just take the loft straight to the back of the Refinery and be there. We didn't come back with any food, really, and most of our humans that we destroyed have been harvested, the few we did kill. And everyone here will complain if we don't have a snack."

I signed and got to my paws. "I guess. Show me the loft."

Immediately, Barb got to his shaky pass and started to go to the Overpass overlooking the entire clearing. This was the first time I had ever seen it up close, not that I had ever noticed it or anything.

It was dark up there, but Aliens liked the dark so it wasn't so bad. I searched and smelled, but there was no sense, no detection, no anything. Barb had been wrong this time and the humans had decided to leave full-fledged. But even when I told him that I didn't sense anything, he didn't reply and just kept trooping, his tail swinging gallantly behind him.

We paused at the edge of the Refinery – and again I saw the open space. It had been less than thirty minutes ago I had last seen it.

It smelt exactly like it had last time – dirt, dewy leaves, debris, and carrion. "There's nothing here," I growled, scraping leaves under my claws with a dull growing irritation. "Let's just go now."

"Wait," Barb spat, and I winced at his tone. Was I nose blind or something? I didn't smell anything.

"If you found something, I don't smell it." I turned to look at him, my tail lashing out at nearby shrubs and plants. "And is this place barren of wildlife? Is human our only prey or something?"

Barb turned to look at me, then lashed out at my snout. I wobbled backwards, alarmed. He had never tried to hit me before, but I knew I had not even known this Xenomorph for a day. I couldn't even try to understand if I knew him all that well. But still, what I have already known of this nice Alien was he didn't try to hit people. I guess I was offending him. Maybe my nose was just lacking of any sense.

"They're right over the hilltop," he confirmed with a dip of his head. "I mean, they do really think we're stupid or something." He flicked his tail at the bleeding gash on my muzzle, and I was trying really hard not to get angry. "Sorry," he added, ducking his head. "I just needed concentration and you were blowing it."

I tried desperately not to give a sarcastic "sorr-ee." But instead, I just gave him a quick glare. "It is fine," I covered up instead. "Why don't we head off now? I mean, we can grab a few others and we can hunt them more effectively that way. Or are you just afraid of losing any more Xenomorphs?"

Barb nodded slowly. "Exactly what I was thinking. If we can bring back something, and maybe even something for Number 6, we should be treated more nicely."

"More appropriately," I piped in.

He snorted.

We made our way to an outcropping speckled with rocks, grass, and cover, as well as a marshy wad of fern to hide ourselves in. I nosed through a few nettles and settled down, awaiting for Barb to give me an order. I knew that I had to listen to him because he was older than I was, and until the time I had chestbursted last night, I would still even be considered a worm-ling.

The camp site was visibly seen from where we were standing. The raw stench of human and musty, un-used buildings was now clear in my throat, in fact so deep and so intense that it burned, almost feeling like it had left scores in my windpipe.

As I struggled off for the burning feeling, Barb mentioned me carefully, "You okay? You look like you just swallowed an acid pool."

I growled at him, although it was just a muffled, pained growl. The sloshy feeling of getting burned alive coursed through me more when I spoke, so as quickly and as legibly as I could, I spat, "This place stinks. It's burning me from the inside out. Can we just move in there quickly so I can't suffer through all this?"

He looked at me deep with understanding. "Sure," he agreed. "Follow me."

Immediately, he bounded his way down the slope and to the edge of the outcropping. It was wobbly underfoot, and I had to clutch a resting spot as to make sure I didn't fall over from pain. At the edge of the outcropping, we used our wall-crawling ability wisely by placing our fore-claws on the stony perch, and sitting at a vertical angle on the outcropping's steep drop. We slunk all the way down, before we landed in a pretty hidden pile of overgrown grass, so overgrown in fact it tickled my snout.

I jumped back and prodded it with a claw. It fell in a shushed wave, leaving behind only a dirty pile. "One question," I asked as I sat behind the falling grass as it recollected its stalk and regained is previous form. "Does Number 6 approve of us going out like this?"

Barb snorted. "Why wouldn't she? She doesn't get to decided where we go. That's the Matriarch's duty, to tell us where we can and can't go. She may not approve of what we're doing, but she definitely can't stop us." He made his was out from behind the stalks and started to slink narrowly across the open space. "And don't even ask me why she wouldn't approve. She doesn't think that Xenomorphs should be able to repay their horrible things they supposedly did to her."

Stopping, I paused, baffled. "I didn't do anything to her!"

Using his fore-claws, Barb deliberately pushed me down. "Get down!" he hissed. After staring wildly around for any signs of trouble, he sat back up again and added, "You snapped at her. That's what she 'thinks' you did."

I growled under my breath. Number 6 was the snappiest one of us I had ever met. I mean really, she was a real pain. I just got to know her and she was still treating me like I had just chestbursted. Oh wait, I just did.

The campsite's horrid scent got worse the further we dug in. Once we reached the walls of the site, we searched for a Marine outside, or even a scientist trying to get some machinery to start working again, but the place was barren and cold. The only people I could smell was the musky, faint odor of the people inside the buildings. I whisked my tail and looked around. The sunlight beat down hard on us as we stopped outside a pretty empty building. I looked at him.

"There?" I questioned with a note of curiosity peeking my voice.

Barb used his petite paws to shuffle at the earth before him. "Yup," he chimed. "I'll take the ventilation underground; you take the ventilation in the roof and walls. Take different targets."

Great. Vents.

I nodded and departed from him, using my speed, which he had earlier complimented, to my advantage to the rooftop. I glared behind me momentarily and saw him crack open the vent with his tail and slip inside. It could not be that hard, I fretted. I felt around for a cracked, damaged, or even fully-repaired vent, and found one.

It had a tree branch lingering dangerously over it. The branch had crumpled and smashed into the vent. It left a part of the metal charred and broken, and I used my tail to excavate the debris blocking my access.

After the rest of the foliage had been cleared, I tested the cold vent with a fore-claw.

It seemed decent. And I sure as freak didn't want to be found worming out of this one. I held my breath reluctantly and slipped in, my head and shoulders dispersing over the grated metal before my rump and hindquarters wiggled in last. The vent creaked under my constantly-growing weight, and I felt chunky in this vent, much more than I had in the primary base's.

Dragging my tail through, I started to lumber through, nosing things that poked in roughly out of my way, or breaking unmovable things with my tail or fore-claws. I found this navigation far simpler, however, and things we're all that bad. I could actually tell where which way was, and where each direction would take me.

I was finally in control.

Weaving around a branch, I paused at the vent overlooking the room. I scanned the ones bordering the crackled tile floor, but apparently Barb hadn't gotten through yet. It had taken me a mere five minutes to realize my direction.

There were five humans in the room, three scientists and two Marines guarding them. The more aggressive-looking Marine jotted one of the scientists in the shoulder. "Are you done yet?" he growled, his voice gravelly and harsh. "We need to return to our base camp in three days."

The scientist sneered at him. "I'm working my hardest!" he spat.

"Work harder then."

I could hear banging in the corner of the room. I turned my head and could see Barb cracking his tail against the metal, unhinging the bolts that backed him out of the room. I noticed that the vent I was standing over had bolts as well, but much more effectively and silently I slipped my tail beneath the bolts and skewered them out of place, having to use a bit of twist work and challenging screws to knock it out. Finally, they were all gone.

Wrapping my two fore-claws over the barred grate keeping me out, I lifted out the piece remaining and set it aside. I slipped my tail out and waggled it so that Barb could see me.

I could feel his glare on me before I sensed it. I lifted my tail back in and peered out to see what he was doing. Once he saw he had notified my attention, he spun his head around and dipped his head at the nearest scientist, the only female scientist in the room. So that was the one he wanted.

I nodded and looked at the Marines. Two in one tail sling, and maybe I could even get the other scientists along with Barb's help.

He stared at me for a moment, and if he had eyes I figured they would be wide with shock. But we needed more than just a simple one human for our Hive, so I figured maybe we should achieve a far more effective burden on us.

I picked out the plumpest one – certainly the Marine that was aggressive. He sported a stocky weight, and he was rather thick. But besides those plump flaws he was well-muscled and hefty-looking. He carried a smart gun, and held it at his side as though it was the most precious thing he could have possibly gotten his hands onto. I knew he would be my first target since that thing could track me without him having even to aim at me.

I slid out into the open and crept behind him. I could hear a beeping – motion trackers.

I wheedled right out into the opening, knowing those things didn't lie. I used my tail and flung it out desperately at the man with a smart gun. It whipped him right across the face, leaving a bloody smear across the tile floor as his face planted against the cold surface. He was dead in the first try.

The scientists looked up in their horror, but I was too fast. I used my claws and tore horribly at the next Marine's face. It took a little bit longer, but soon he was too sprawled on the ground, writing in his short-lived agony.

The scientists were backed up against the wall, pressed against it huddled. The turned their heads in fear as they saw the next Xenomorph slip out of the vent in the wall and approach to. He got up on his hind legs and stalked forward, and let out a fearsome hiss. His inner jaw snapped in and out. His claws dangled in a way that would grab any scientist that moved. His tail whipped around dangerously.

He lunged to his target – the female scientist. She tried to let out a retched human scream, but he clamped his other claws around her face. He lifted her off the ground, as he stood at seven feet and her only five, and the scientist's legs dangled at least a foot. I watched as Barb's tail blade, barbed, as his name indicated, neared her throat. This was to be the first time I was him use his tail. But I grabbed the other two scientists to make sure they didn't decide to run for it.

The barbed part of Barb's tail blade did something very interesting, inside of piercing, he simply moved it jagged and it clipped in her flesh for a moment, before he pulled it back out. She was dead in moments.

The other scientists squabbled pathetic human speech. I tossed one and Barb and let him take care of it. I peered at the Marine and decided to finish it off with a head bite.

I pulled it closer to me and opened my outer jaw wide. It stretched nearly twice its size, since we have jaws like a snake's, back on Earth. My inner jaw slithered out from between the metallic, silver, gleaming row of teeth. The human winced in his fear of me. It made me feel powerful, standing there besides Barb. Finally, the inner jaw snapped out and landed right flat on the scientist's forehead, right on his eye. It implanted a hole in him, and his eye was jacked up, now inside his head.

He fell back with a silent thump. I turned to see what Barb was doing.

He was simply scarfing the freak out of the scientist's chest and torso, before he chugged him close and speared his tail blade through him, although it was just a quick stab, before he let go and let the human tumble to the floor in a useless heap.

"Huh." I chortled for a moment, flicking my tail. "That was a pretty good hunt."

Smiling at me, for what I could sense, Barb growled back, "Sure was. Told you there'd be something here. Now, let's return this back to the Hive before a few humans decides they want to show up."

We gathered the bodies, him taking three and I two, and started to make our way back. We scrambled out through the front door this time by snapping the button with our sharp teeth, and soon got to the cliff on the outcropping. Expertly, the two of us hoisted up the human bodies as well, and started the dash back to the Refinery.

A silent drizzle had started once we neared the overhang and steel doors of the metal building, and as soon as we got there it began to pour. It was the first time I had seen rain, and it felt cold against my silky smooth skin. "Can we drink it?" I had asked Barb.

"Yeah," he'd replied. "But I don't think it's very fresh, really."

I hardly knew food and water for what brief experience I had had of that little thing, so I just kept my mouth shut and nodded. We soon got to the protection of the overhang, and we used the loft to return back to our camp site. As soon as we can strolling back in with those bodies over our shoulders, I can nearly hear the signs of relief of the other Xenomorphs since they now had a meal.

"And," I hissed at the body of my prey, "No entrails this time."

I had hunted these bodies, so this prey belonged to me. I was to share the other bodies with the Hive, but that was if they wanted it. I could pick out who got entrails. But I wasn't a nasty Alien, so I gave others a fair share of the meat.

Number 6's glare on me I could feel. I turned to meet her gaze, but her lip just curled.

Clamping my teeth over the leg of the thickest male Marine I had wall-tailed, I chimed, "This is for you – the whole thing. Enjoy."

Her feral growl was enough to startle me. No "thank yous" protruded from her thoughts or mouth as she dug in viciously to her meal, snapping at it with her inner jaw.

I returned to where Barb was sitting, crouched beside the human bodies. "And this," he yowled, "is to a good hunt!" The rest of the Aliens cheered right along with him, and everyone got their fill of the food. I had enough to stuff myself silly. All I wanted now was some rest. The sky outside was still dark because of the rain, but I knew the evening was coming and soon I would be a full-grown Xenomorph. It only took 24 hours.

I talked to a few others as they looked up at me. I had apparently been heard of as of the life I has risked of saving the Xenomorphs trapped by the Marine once we were returning from the battle. They thought I was some kind of savior, some did. Fair enough. Some thought I was just showing off. Some called me a natural.

"It was just a kill," I seemed to shrug off for the fifteenth time that day. "It wasn't anything special or anything. Barb's just trying to make it sound all heroic, but it wasn't that great. Trust me, I have no skill. Just luck."

The Xenomorph who had talked to me like I was some kind of king stepped back a few feet. "How can you say that?" he asked. "Why would you neglect your skills?"

Making sure as to not lose my patience with this Alien, I stammered right back at him, "I'm not! I'm just saying it wasn't special. If you guys want to go around priding one kill, go right on ahead. I won't stop you. Or even try to stop you."

The Xenomorph lowered his gaze. "Sorry to upset you," he fretted.

"It's okay," I whispered, feeling as though I'd been too hard on him. "I mean; it's fine and all. But it wasn't anything special." I got back to my feet as where I had leaned closer to him comfortingly. "Just warning you."

He looked up at me and smiled.

And I smiled back.

After returning to Barb, who was sitting beside his carrion heaps, he looked up at me and flagged his tail as a sign of lacking aggression, the sign he used when he first met me. "You done talking to those chatterboxes, famous one?"

I growled at him. "Not you, too," I scoffed.

He shook his head playfully. "Nah, don't worry. I'm just teasing."

I grinned at him. What a nice friend. "Where do you sleep?" I asked, changing the subject as I sat down on the inside. "Do you use one of the holes in the sides of the walls?" I peered at the walls where a bunch of drippy holes were plastered. "I sleep in one of those," I added, simply.

"Yeah, I think most of us do," he added, a smile on his face. He waved his tail. "As to where Number 6 sleeps when she's here, I have no idea. When she comes over on these visits, it's kind of hard to tell where she goes. Blends in with the crowd I guess."

I dipped my head in response. "Huh." I glanced at the way the crouched Praetorian was flicking her tail impatiently. "I'll make sure not to tread on her bad side."

Barb snorted. "Well, don't. Now, it's best you got some sleep. I'm sure you've have a long first day out of the chest cavity. And you look tired, anyway."

I growled. "Do I?"

He nodded. "See you later, worm-ling. At least you won't have to be called that one you wake up."

I waved my tail in farewell, before making my way back to the spot I had slept the night before. He was right – as soon as I pressed my head against the cold Refinery wall, I felt the wave of wanting to sleep waft over me. I sank down more comfortably, and let sleep's tight embrace grip me once again…

Silent. Lolling. Peaceful. Home…


	2. Chapter 2

Harsh claws stung my face, my mind. I was sitting alone, desperate for any means of escape. The metal bars that held me fast to where I was sitting did not let me go. In fact, I was stuck.

Only moments ago it seemed I had crawled into my sleep back in the Refinery.

Now it seems as though it could have been five years ago.

I struggled as a hand pressed me down on the cold, flat surface. A needle was injected into my thin, silky skin. I squealed and growled, lashing and slinging my tail to and fro. It was still silent in the little room; whoever was attacking me had no intentions of making any sounds at all.

A lifting feeling flooded through me as I was turned over on my side and pressed down, a metal clamp snapping over my smooth, cylinder skin. My tail next, then my claws and body and neck. Soon, I was unable to fight back on this metal table, and I was exposed to the unnatural light. Was this captivity? Had humans gotten their revenge on me and Barb's hunt and trapped us here in this desolate world? Thoughts like this turned me negative. But I could not move.

As soon as the light lifted, I jumped.

* * *

My mind flashed open as I lifted my head from my terrible dream. I shivered quietly. My very first dream, and it was a nightmare.

I shook my head as if to clear it, then looked around.

All the Xenomorphs I had previously gotten to know the night before were organizing themselves in a fashionable sort of way. However, I could tell from the bent heads and desperate speaking that something was up.

Carefully, I bounced out of my sleeping chamber and found Barb sitting beside two other females, their voices frantic. Yawning and stretching open my maw, I pounced down to join them.

"What's all this?" I asked, clearing indicating the crowd.

Barb looked over at me. His gaze was horrified. "During the night, Number 6 sent four of us to explore the human camp for food, you know the one we went to for hunting? They were supposed to come back, but we haven't heard of them since."

I "blinked". A mere state of puzzled confusion. "What do you think happened?"

"I think the humans may have killed or captured them."

It was like a smack on the face. Fervently, I remembered my previous dream of being held down against a table and toyed with, unable to freely move my limbs on command. The thought of that actually happening to a Xenomorph was very not well.

"Are we going to go after them?" I asked, alarmed.

Barb looked down at his paws. "Number 6 says she's not allowing a rescue. She doesn't want any more of us to get caught. Do understand, won't you? I know you care about the Hive and all, but what she's going makes sense. We're not a big happy family. If you get lost from lack of your skill, then you get lost. I mean, that's the way it works."

I lashed my tail. "That's not the way we should think," I butted in.

One of the female Xenomorphs growled at me, flaring up her tail. "Of course you'd think that!" she growled. "You are our savior after all." She glared for a few moments at Barb, who didn't even seem to notice.

"I wasn't a – gr… What's it to you anyway?" I spat. "I wasn't trying to save anyone! Why do you care so much?"

For a moment, the female was silent, before she turned back to Barb and sheered at him, "Go make her bite a Face-hugger."

"I'm not!" Barb warned her dangerously. "And you," he added carefully, turning his gaze to me. "She's just jealous that she was never a great-fighting worm-ling, don't let her taunts get to you. She wants to be just like you."

I ducked my head, half-embarrassed, half-ashamed. "I never wanted to make anyone feel bad!" I protested. "I was just trying to protect all of you." I turned to where the female was flicking her claws dangerously. "Don't hate me. I never did anything to you."

She sniffed. "Don't even start that with me." And she loped off.

I tore at the roots in the ground. "Ugh. I haven't even been alive for two days!"

Barb was looking around as if he was ashamed to be seen with me. But he seemed to override his concerns. "I know, I know. She's just jealous."

I glared at him, suspiciously. "Who is she, anyway?"

He laughed. "Somehow, she got named by the humans. She's Victory. She's like a real stupid want-to-be, but she fights well. Whenever the humans see Victory, they know they'll lose, because she gets her name from all the fights she's won."

"Then why's she picking on me?"

He seemed embarrassed. "I, uh…" He shuffled for a bit. "Er… never mind. Still, why don't you get eat some remains that arrived yesterday night? You look hungry."

Still stupefied as to why he avoided my question, I got up and made my way over to the plateau silhouetted in the center, then paused. "I sure don't feel very hungry," I added slowly, flicking my tail blade. "Why don't you come join me?"

Barb ducked his head, apologetically. "Sorry, I just ate. See you around."

_Don't know why he to beat around the bush._

At the top of the pile, there were hardly scraps to pick from. Some legs and thighs, but every Xenomorph had eaten as much as they could off the stomach and torso. I dug my claws in the ground in frustration before I picked it up in my teeth and carried it back to a nice spot.

I was never feeling famished, but I ate anyway. I was about to go have a word with Number 6 as to why I couldn't go out and find the missing Xenomorphs.

Once I had finished the leg I had severed off, I got up and dropped the bones at the edge of the corridor to rot, then I used my not very well senses to detect Number 6. Soon enough, I could smell her in the corner of the room, her head ducked and quiet. When she "saw" me, she looked up and hissed.

"What do you want?"

"Well, you can't call me worm-ling anymore," I joked.

Silence. So much for trying to start a laugh. How come I ever thought that would work…?

Big. Idiot.

"Is it okay if I go out and try to find the missing Xenomorphs?" I asked, shifting from paw-to-paw. "I am just trying to be-"

Number 6's tone rose above mine, her Praetorian glare sizzling like a fire. "Have you not _heard? _No one is allowed to search for them. Obviously your little Barb friend must have told you that."

Losing my temper, I spat right back, "And what are your reasons?"

All I got was a hiss. "Do not question me, Warrior. Just _obey."_

I sniffed and backed away from her. If I could not get out of here while she was watching, then I had to wait. Or maybe there was some way later I could convince her.

Picking my way across the clearing, I could see the elder female Xenomorph I had met two nights ago when I was just a chestbursted youngster. She had told off a gruff male Xenomorph guarding his kill then. I approached her.

"Hi," I greeted her.

"Oh, what?" she asked, looking up. She "saw" me and she scratched at the floor. "What do you want, kid?"

I lowered my gaze. "I wanted to say thank-you for convincing the male Xenomorph two days ago for giving me some food. I couldn't talk to you then, so I just wanted to mention it now."

The female Xenomorph used her back feet to claw an itch on her neck. "Eh. You were hungry. Got a name?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. Yours?"

She smiled at me. "Silence Within."

Dipping my head, I repeated, "Thank you, again. Now, I'll let you get back to your meal."

She flicked her tail with an unconvincing tilt of her head. "It wasn't anything," Silence Within stated. "There's a patrol heading to go see if there's a water source in here somewhere. Since there's not that much action hustling around since the rush yesterday, I suggest you go join them, especially if you're full of energy. Kid, you got to run down some of that energy."

Looking to where there was a group of Xenomorphs gathering around the wall, I responded, "Sure, I don't see why not. Is Barb still hanging around?"

Silence stared at me before shrugging. "He's that friend of yours, isn't he? Nice guy, Barb. Probably can imagine if Victory is hanging around him. Surprised you haven't heard of her since today. Real nice, that Victory is."

"Is that sarcasm?" I pestered.

Silence Within's smile made me grin back at her. "Maybe, maybe not. Now run along then. They'll be heading out soon."

Thanking her a last time, I raced down the slope to where the Aliens were grouped. A dominant-looking female was leading them, her tail lashing at anything nearby. "Supposedly," she started. "There's a source of water that is inside of here – the Refinery. Our job is to go find it." She bounced off the wall and landed with a thump, almost eight feet tall. "And let's go take a look at who's come to join us, as well."

I stiffened. I hated the spotlight.

"Ah. It's our hero. Come on then, and join us." It was another female Xenomorph, since those heavily dominated our numbers. Every ten Xenomorphs you looked at, only probably one would be a male. 30/100 Xenomorphs in our ranks are probably male. But I hated what I knew little of arithmetic, and who cares how many males we had? I wasn't preparing for a mate anytime soon.

We started the trek for water by leaving through the catwalk overlooking the center. We used our fore-claws and scrambled up the sides of the walls, and then we reached the balcony. I dropped off the railing that bordered it and thumped on the heavy metal floor. Reaching out with my senses, I could smell what was inside of the Refinery, all the way to the other side. The Matriarch somewhere hidden in these walls, and Nethead elsewhere beside her. The heavier the stench, the more dangerous.

I knew I couldn't sniff myself, but I made a joke out of it and tried.

Once we started to ease our way to the walls, two iron doors stood in our way. However, once I could feel the air currents around it, I figured out that the Xenomorphs or something had bused a hole in the side of it that completely made a way for them to break through. It was a great way.

But once I figured out that we didn't mean we were looking for something outside but inside of the Refinery, I grew less happy about this since this wasn't so great to look for, but you know. Always something to stretch your legs, just as Silence Within had mentioned.

Rusted puddles of last night's rain I was determined was still happening filed out in the open corners we were padding through. The tunnels were tight, yeah, but it was nice. I was having a few conversations with the others here. 10 female Xenomorphs, and 3 male ones. The nearly 8-foot female that was leading this group was named Mercy Claws, and she turned out being a very friendly person. I fell down right on my ass and she asked me if I was okay.

"Make sure that kind of fall doesn't always happen," she whispered, her gaze shining. "I really don't want anything happening to everybody. Like it did to my father yesterday. He was in the rush."

"What happened to your father?" I asked, interested.

She looked down. "He was crossing underneath a few rocky outcroppings and it collapsed on top of him."

Memory swarmed me as I remembered a Xenomorph that had gotten killed when a Marine named "Rookie" had shot the boulders down on top of him. Only his tail with blood splatters had been left poking out.

"So that was your father?" I asked. "How old are you?"

Mercy Claws shrugged. "Three weeks old."

I was surprised that she was that young. I was a lot younger, being only two days old, pretty much, but Xenomorphs matured fast. I was an adult in like, 24 hours.

"Huh." I looked at her curiously. "How may rushes have you been into?"

Whisking her tail, she responded, "Only like 5 of them. We go on those sieges often, but we don't have them every day. I tried to get in all of them. I know you've only ever seen Number 6 so far, but you'll like Nethead better. He is more understanding of things, and he is more of a conversationalist. He likes to talk to everyone, and not just sit around. You'll want him to talk to you, too, since he can tell you about the Queen."

"What's so interesting about hearing about her?"

Mercy Claws simply waved her tail. "I don't really know. I ever talked to him once, and what I had gotten of that experience I really liked."

Then we moved in silence for a while. It was peaceful, despite the creaks that moved in the floors as we tread across it. The twelve other Aliens that moved behind us had conversations amongst themselves as well.

It was with the bang then that we all paused.

The random bang was alarming, it was that loud. I stumbled to a halt and nearly let a male Xenomorph behind me crash into the back of my legs. He growled at me, but Mercy sneered at him. "Get down and stay quiet!" she ordered. "We don't know what this is, so spread out and stay on the walls."

And I did just that. Pressing myself against the wall, I kept my head lowered, but I approached the source of the uncommon sound. A scuffle went by me – and I have no amazing senses, found out when I went hunting with Barb – and I could see the in darkness below, a few humans pressing in on us. I turned back to look at Mercy Claws, and her gaze looked terrified.

"No!" she whispered.

I scrambled to her, wanting to comfort her, but a male Xenomorph who I can tell liked her; that being gross since she's 3 weeks olds, and to you humans that's even grosser, leaped in front of me and hissed, arcing his tail.

"Help the others," he grasped. "I'll make sure Mercy Claws is safe.

I wanted to lash out at him and explain that I was careful enough with doing that, but I had a bad attitude as it was and I didn't want to take that out on anyone else. I simply dipped my head and turned to flee.

The others had grouped up – they were discussing a plan of attack.

"How many?" I asked as I jumped down off the ceiling to meet them. One of the female Xenomorphs looked up at me, who I remembered talking to as Pestilence Withdrawn.

"Only eight," she warned me. "But we never underestimate our open. Take the ventilation ducts and stay close. But don't stay too close, if they have motion trackers we'll be doomed. You'll know what I mean soon enough."

We took the nearest ducts and leapt through.

The one I'd taken, to the far right, was joined by a male Xenomorph. I was not comfortable with him walking behind me, and I had a very instinctual urge to tuck my tail, like an Earth dog, but I held it straight down so he wasn't breathing right down on my neck. These vents were tight so I held my head down so my cylinder-shaped head wouldn't scrape the ceiling.

Once the vents were flatter and not so narrow, I peeked through an open crack and the male Xenomorph edged behind me. Gunfire rattled from down below, and I stiffened, rigid with terror that my unspoken friend Mercy had been shot. But after some rumbling I could see her and her escort, the male Xenomorph that had offered to take my place, sliding up me and the other Alien's vent to safety.

"She's hurt." He watched as acid blood poured down from a wound rippling on her flank, and she hissed and trashed in pain. Mercy Claws' wound looked bad.

I peered at her. "What kind of gun?"

"What does it matter?" the Xenomorph growled. "We need to return her to the Hive. If she dies…" He looked at Mercy Claws desperately. "Please don't die," he urged.

She could only hiss in return. "Who cares if I die?" she retched. "I'd be with my father, at the least. I could join him, you know." She stared ungratefully at the ceiling. "And since when have you ever cared about anyone?"

"I care! I care because…" He stopped, flicking his tail. "Well. Just never mind. You're my friend. Of course I care."

"Oh, Anger," she rasped. Then she looked over at me. "Go kill the Marines. Anger will escort me back to the Hive. You need to run on and live. If you can't kill them all, then leave. Number 6 will send out a patrol out to overrun them. My life is not as important as it is yours. You have a great destiny ahead of you, I can tell."

I glared at her. "Get back to camp."

Anger lifted the wounded Xenomorph off her belly. "And we won't waste another second!" he decided, before taking off towards the opening of the duct and streaming out tail-last. There was not time for stealth now, I noticed. It was time to fight these humans and flush them from our territory.

I opened the duct with my tail and lashed in.

Everything seemed to slow down for me. Things went in slow-motion for battles, I remembered. It was like you were fighting in a slow-motion world. And that's exactly what I felt as I raced for the sun.

Bullets rippled along my skin but I ignored them. It didn't feel as bad as everyone had always seethed that it did. Suddenly, I realized those weren't bullets. Pestilence Withdrawn had jumped from her vent and blocked my way. It was her wriggly tail blade that had bumped into me.

Screams wailed into the air as she died before she hit the ground.

It was a brief moment of terror, caution, and everything in-between. I stared, befuddled, at the body laying before me. She had risked her life in order to save me. It was like everyone wanted me stay alive. But she must have done that for I reason.

And soon I would join her.

I lashed out with my tail and screeched, before pelting towards the nearest exit. But there was none. It was like I was forever stuck. Trapped in this little room. Smart guns and pistols and Flamethrowers and Pulse Rifles were on my in one instant, and I had no means of escape. I was going to die.

And I supposed I could let that happen. Because many of my kind at this age had been killed before. I would not be the first. But I remembered Mercy Claws' words. I had a destiny ahead of me. But other than those words, I would have just let myself die.

I let out a ferocious bellow, rattling everything from here all the way back to the Hive at least. The humans tried to come at me with their fists extended, ready to chomp at me. Ready to imprison me. The memories of my dream once wafted over me. Maybe it was a dream of the future. Perhaps I really was guaranteed destruction from Marines and scientists that mimicked our feral growls in mirrors. But no.

I was stronger than that.

I lunged at the closest opening and battered with my claws, hacking and slashing until I had a way in. I wiggled in, shoving my banana-shaped head and circular shoulders, before my slim tail disappeared last.

Safety. At last. Somehow I didn't imagine all those thoughts would go through me at that current time, didn't seem very possible. But apparently I did have all that in my head, because they started shooting at me in a matter of mere moments! I was so fast, just as Barb had said. Oh, and how much in the end would I have liked to see Barb! I needed his comforting sarcastic talk and friendly nature. Then I remembered he was being weird right now. Wonder what all that was about. He never had any problems the night before. Probably stuffed himself with too much fresh-kill.

I barreled into the quiet night. I was sure it was still dimly raining.

After that, there were no sounds.

Human speech. "God damn. I thought we had that thing."

"We killed one of them. That's the least-"

"I was nearly killed-"

"That tail blade could have speared me-"

I didn't want to hear any more. I was sick of these humans. I could not have a day's peace without having to see one. I was only two days old, but I was sorely sick of this thing. Humans were peace-destroyers. Foreign to these planets in which we lived on. They needed to leave, yet they flushed us out.

The rage that was beginning to spark inside of me was unlike any other.

I wanted to make and have a fit right then and there, lashing my tail against the thing and screeching my head off. But I did not want to make a fit. Making fits were for worm-lings. And I know I had just gotten off that level, but I was already sick of the worm-ling comments. Was it just me that got taunted in this way? Or was it simply everyone that was called a worm-ling?

I pressed my back against the cool, smooth metal. In such a way, I could have wished to die, I could have. Had the chance to end it all. But I had stood my ground. I was not going to die like this. There was no way that I could have been felled like this. I was part of a Hive, and they needed me.

We need each other.

After getting a hold of my feelings and thoughts, I climbed up the vent as the human noises vanished. I could still smell their reeking detections, but it was not so strong from up here. The hissing and telepathic speech was soon heard as they fretted from the lost Xenomorph Pestilence Withdrawn. Yes, our true names sure are special.

They'd long names. Not simple names describing our character. Barb. Victory. Don't know why Anger got his name, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. From what I had seen from that Xenomorph he really wasn't the brightest-scaled fish in the river.

They turned to look at me, scared and frigid. There glares were locked with fear, right on me. I bounded to them, and stated, "We have to fight these guys! For Pestilence Withdrawn."

They seemed unsure, looking amongst themselves for a response. Until I saw Pestilence Withdrawn's friend rise from within them, her gaze cautious but determined. "I would be honored to stand alongside you." She trotted across the open gap I had between me and the others' and stood there, head held high. I admired her determination, it was what we need at times like this.

Slowly and unsurely, the others came as well. Pestilence Withdrawn would be avenged from her will to die. And she would be honored back at our camp.

We all huddled together and made a plan. Since we had ten remaining, with Mercy Claws, Anger, and Pestilence Withdrawn gone, we put five above, and five below. Five from the ceiling, and five would come from the ground vents. A surprise attack all in one. They would be flushed in moments.

I took the bottom since it was harder, and when I saw Victory with Barb again, she had better not say anything about my superior heroism. I was doing this for the Horde, not because I wanted to a savior or anything.

I was cramped in with Pestilence Withdrawn's friend, the male Xenomorph I had been caught with first, and two others. Both female and didn't really mean that much to me. We had a mission we had to embark on, and that was the main priority right now. But the Queen did not have this attack authorized, so we had to make the wise choices all by ourselves out here.

Surely Anger must have gotten back with Mercy Claws by now. The camp had not been that far away, but this simple search for water had been turned into a real mind-crazing adventure! But I was tired of beating treating like a Queen, like a God. I needed to sacrifice my life as well, not be that preppy princess. No wonder why Victory wanted to be just like me, as she had mentioned.

No one would sacrifice themselves for her.

But I hadn't asked for this. The frustration of trying to understand my unexplained infamy was killing me. I could sit here for hours and wiggle and turn in my restless feat and think about that statement, and not be able to piece together the answers. It was like the true conclusion did not make sense.

No one inadvertently stepped anywhere – the slightest sound and hell would break loose. One single flaw committed, and I and the rest of us here could die. And I decided that this time I would jump in the way to save them, not the other way around.

What would Barb think? Probably that I was too brave for my own good. That I should never had been so courageous. Victory? She would probably say something about how much of a savior I was, and that an end like that was to even come to me shortly anyway. Who cares what she thinks.

I was awaiting for a single or a screech – but there was nothing. I turned around and saw the gazes of the other Xenomorphs on me.

They expected me as the leader.

"Er…" I looked around and glanced at Pestilence Withdrawn's friend. "You can tell us when to go."

"No," she reprimanded me. "This is for you to say, not me."

Again with that heroism stuff. Ugggghh. Forget about that, already!

I tried not to grow angry. I was done with this! I felt like a hero that didn't deserve to be like in a human book! A hero that had done nothing to deserve that title. It made me insufferably angry. It was just another reason that a real hero like Number 6 could hate me, getting the title she longed for and didn't receive. I had haters, now. But I also had friends.

"Go!" I screeched telepathically at my teammates, and soon that one tense hell was now running in circles. Xenomorphs from all angles were pouncing on the Marines. They were outnumbered by two, and they died faster than I could say this.

I had gripped the closest Marine to me, and her face got swarmed with a mix of confusion and alarm as her chest was gripped, although it was well-supplied with armor and that sort of thing. I used my tail as a lethal spear to impenetrate her heart, and she died in a mere matter of seconds. Soon after, the rest followed.

Standing in the feat of our victory, it was something I wish I could replay. Except this time it had been sped up, so fast in fact I might have even gotten a bit dizzy. I was wobbly with exhaustion, and there were still other matters back at the camp that I had to tend to. The missing Xenomorphs were still among us, and I figured that I could persuade Number 6 maybe, but I doubted it. I'd talk to Barb about her persuasion skills.

And we sauntered back to our camp.

Number 6 was there, standing alongside an angry Anger. His tail lashed from side to side, but when he stepped forward the Praetorian shoved him down. "Explain to me what happened," she growled, her voice rising.

I was not doing it again. I hated to rat anyone out, but I nodded to the male Xenomorph that had been with me for a portion of the patrol. He seemed eager to take my place. But this whole savior thing was started to drag me like a claw.

"We got attacked in the tunnel," he started, flicking his tail, which I now noticed was severed and unusable, not unlike Nethead's. "And Anger came back here with Mercy Claws – is she okay? And why did you not send any help?"

Number 6 sneered, the one she always gives me and the rest of this Hive. She was just a really nasty Praetorian. "I didn't send you any help because I believed that they would not get there in time. And yes, Mercy Claws is okay. And what exactly did you find there? Did you find perhaps some water like the mission stated you find?"

Pestilence Withdrawn's friend butted in next. "You expected us to stay there and keep going after all that? It's the fact that we had friends here who have their life at stake that we came back. We'll go back out tomorrow for water. I can't believe you thought we would come back clear-eyed and bushy-tailed! Are you completely out of your mind, Number 6? Pestilence Withdrawn is dead!"

Number 6 didn't even blink.

"So what does that have to prove?" she spat. "First, a Hive is not about being and looking after your friends, and second, lower your attitude mongrel, or I'll let you join Pestilence Withdrawn."

Although she immediately backed up from her lack of authority, the little Xenomorph stared hard at Number 6's back with a feral snarl commented across her face. Once that matter was done with, the massive Praetorian turned and focused on me, and if she had eyes, I figured they'd be narrowed.

"It was your idea, wasn't it?" she asked, a hiss in her voice. "To stay and fight them? Was it not your call?"

It was.

I knew I had to say it but I really didn't want to. I hated this Praetorian I had tried to joke and tease with for the past day, but my attempts failed. She was like an itch in the back of your brain you could not reach.

"We all did. So no one gets punished."

And I turned and stalked off, leaving her raging and seething on the Refinery floors.

* * *

The next day I was already preparing for my leave. I knew that even if Number 6 would allow others to go out now, she certainly wouldn't let me. I knew this by heart. So I gathered all I would need, which was just simply me, and sauntered to find Barb, who I never found previously yesterday.

"Barb?" I tried, letting my voice rest over the clearing.

However, still that blasted Warrior was not here. I decided to give up for the most part. What harm would be going alone? I know that this was dangerous and the risk factor involved in doing this was heavy, but I had no choice. Xenomorphs should not be left behind, and I knew that they probably did not feel good hoping someone of their kind to stray on their path and help them escape.

I was going to sneak out of the Refinery.

Despite me knowing not where the Aliens were being held, and since I had a pretty defective scenting-system, this was going to be a bit more on instinct than anything. But what I did need Barb for was to distract Number 6. She would definitely see me strolling out of here like there was no problem.

I hoped in my head that Barb was a right one to trust about this. For the past day or so I had not seen him or Victory or that other Xenomorph that he had been with. I was starting to feel ignored in the least way, no one would talk to me since they knew Number 6 would lash out at them if she did catch them talking to me. But something deep inside told me Barb was staying away, or that something Victory was forcing him to do was. I didn't know where he was right now, probably pretending to be asleep, but I didn't care.

Still, I needed someone to distract Number 6.

Perhaps it could be Silence Within? No, she was far too old for that, and she would never agree to my schemes. My prehensile tail swooped the ground in an arc, and I guessed that I really had no one to help my means of escape.

So at night, I would strike my blow and get the Xenomorphs lost from human clutches, if that was where they were. Victory may or may not complain about it, but who really cared? I was doing this for the Hive, not because I wanted to rub in to her smug little face how great of a savior I am and how much I was doing to ensure the survival of my species.

Please, leave me out of it.

Waiting impatiently for the sun to go down sucked, which meant in only a few hours I would be four days old, I ate what fill I could and drank what fill I could. I could not have many rest stops on my journey, and fattening and stuffing yourself with all supplies was the merest response to that question.

As the moon drifted behind the wisp in the clouds, I slunk towards the Refinery walls. Barb was not here for all I was concerned, but I was ambitious and needed to find those missing Xenomorphs! I wall-crawled on the wall and slithered towards the loft. I could see a few Xenomorphs sniffing the air curiously for any detections, but I outsmarted them and moved on.

It was the same trail I had taken as when I had gone in the rush a few days ago. I crouched down as if to hide from Number 6's senses, then I leapt onto the ground. The door was still slightly opened from when we had exited on that day, which had only been like two sunrises ago.

The night was different from the day, certainly. The cool midnight washing over my silky skin was enough to soothe the toughest wounds, not that I had many. A few scratches that Number 6 had given me, but I was pretty much clean. Still, the relaxation that coursed through me made me want to find a nice stone and relax. Just imagine the possibilities that I could have, without having to return, and just stay huddled up as soon as possible and escape everything I had to face.

But I had a task at hand. As soon as I could locate the missing Xenomorphs, the fast I'd be able to return. Although a quiet thought ebbed in my mind as I realized that I would have to face Number 6 as soon as I returned, depending on how long it might take for me to return. I decided to just stay out at night and not leave, or someone probably would think I'd die. And another one I would have to face.

Victory.

I had just met her and everything, two days ago, but she was so annoying I wanted desperately to sink my claws into her smug face. Or smack her with prey's limbs. A playing image in my head showed me doing just that.

My senses reached out, but my senses seemed faint, I didn't know if it was a worm-ling thing or just my own thing. I called at the ground for a moment, rooted to the spot before I came across the blood puddle.

It was red and green, but most of the green parts of it were burned away. The red blood I recognized as being a human's blood. A battle had taken part here, and since this wasn't exactly where the rush was, I knew it wasn't that. And the swirling pools were still fresh, and they stank with a certain musk. I sniffed in, knowing my sense of smell wasn't dependable but trustworthy.

From what I could tell, it lead it a northern direction, with the Weyland-Yutani's structure, the Refinery, to the south. I dropped to the ground. This was perhaps a fight the humans had won, because it certainly showed more Alien droplets than human droplets of blood spattered on the fragrant stones. The moonshine illuminated the scene before me, and I looked to the north. I think that was the way to the Research Lab. That was where I could imagine the Xenomorphs were taken.

Starting on my trek, I approached a rocky bank with a stream pooling gently over the rocks. I stepped on the crunchy pebbles, but their sharp spokes did not penetrate the tough skin covering my hind feet and fore-claws.

Although my senses were damp, I believed, I could still detect carrion, as in most places here, and a bunch of other things like flowers, plants, wildlife that tasted wretched, and some herbs and old human machinery. It was dark outside, so moving now was beneficial for this trip. The darkness is the Xenomorph ally, and we kept there because we are clearly seen in the sunlight.

Gathering ahold of myself on some rocks to perch on, I examined the clearing to see if I could see the metal walls of the Research Lab. I had been told about it, I recalled. A place so evil and wicked that not even birds dared fly over the place. It also stank and reeked like anything I'd ever scented before, even worse than the two days ago when I was sitting outside of the human camp with Barb, and got a terrible burning feeling in my throat.

When I felt tired, I sat down for a minute, then moved on again. The moonlight wafted over me, and I liked the feeling of it washing against me like a river. I never really had swam in water before, and I didn't really like the sensation. Still, it was better than when a wave of fire licked across your fleshy, silky exoskeleton and cracked you in half. Anything was better than that. Just imaging the feel of fire going across me was enough to make me start throwing a fit.

As I neared the towering structure, I kept my senses opening for any Marines. It was not uncommon for them to set base camps and refuges as defense for Weyland-Yutani or for their wounded to get safety. My senses tingled as I noted the presence of a human, but I evaded that location as durably as possible. I was glad I had passed it and the tingly feeling of danger was over. Not annoying or anything, but it got more worried in the way that that sense should make you.

The trip was eh, maybe an hour's walking speed. My tail was dragging along the ground, and my petite fore-claws poked gaping holes in the grass and soil. I lay so smoothly amid the rocks and turmoil beneath me I may have appeared to be one with them, and I moved at the best times so no creature could see me. I grinned, a feeling of unmatched hostility flooding in my brain.

A sharp pinch on my front left hand reminded me what I was doing, not practicing. I could rehearse my hunting/fighting skills as soon as I returned with these missing. I did not doubt their survival, for the humans here liked to keep us alive and study us, so if I could find where ever they kept our kind, this would be far simpler for me.

But who said that this would be simple?

I had already acknowledged full-heartedly the major risk factor of sneaking behind Number 6's back to find these guys. Still, if it had been her that had been caught, she would be hoping and screeching day and night to be found ago.

And I also recalled Number 6 couldn't boss us around.

But she did anyway. I had expected her to be self-preserved, and sad, and grieving for the horrible blow she had had to fight through, her captivity that pressed her against the walls of Weyland-Yutani. She was not drawn to the wretched place, and I knew why. No Xenomorph, despite their ever-growing curiosity, would want to venture into the walls of the Research Lab, for surely alone, caught they would be.

Pressing against the floor, I crawled on for a few hours more, and I knew that in a few more hours the sun would be boosting up high in the sky. I cringed at the thought of some dead Xenomorphs awaiting me in the Research Lab. The thought of studied bodies lying dissected on a few tables made me throw my guts up.

There goes my lunch. Great.

Since I was now aware that I would be going hungry a few minutes faster than I had intended to, I pressed on faster and harder. My heart beat as I tried my limbs hard to reach my destination. No more walking and cruising for me, I notified myself. It was time to reach the lab and find the missing Xenomorphs.

Once I had reached the building, I was wondering how I ever intended on doing this myself. The walls were all sorts of guarded, maintenance cameras, turrets, electrical fences, mines, radio towers, electricity… This was pretty much impossible.

Frustration tore at my flesh like a chainsaw. Instead of wasting time, I lunged for the nearest open crack and slipped in. It was not a ventilation duct, but I didn't care. I could find one of those soon enough. And besides, they could detect me in one of those, but they could not find me here. I clawed at the walls, and could hear a cart rattling beneath me. I pressed my face against the cold wall to hear more, my head slipping on the slick surface.

Scientists.

I had faced these two days ago. Defenseless, but hardly unwatched over by a few butting-in Marines. I would try to prohibit my engagement for as much as I could but if I had to stand and fight, I would.

But there was a difference to this time than any other.

No one would be here to save me.

It was not like I had been asked to be saved. It was out of the kindness of her soul that Pestilence Withdrawn had risked her life to leap right out in front of me. That was her own fault, yet other Aliens still looked at me as though I had literally dragged her out of that duct and used her as a living shield.

I followed the scientists to wherever they brought the cart, and since my tail blade was sharper, I could bust a hole in the walls now, whereas any time previously it would have just slapped off the hard metal surface.

Claws found a few footholds in the side of the smooth wall as I cracked my tail against the skin of the mold. The structure fell apart, and entry fell before me.

I slithered in and dragged my shoulders and lumpy tail spines that covered it through the relatively small opening. I let out a hiss of irritation as my actual tail blade got caught in a snag on the inside of the wall. I wrenched it out of the wall, and continued on my way.

The scientists I stalked pushed the cart into a room that opened and closed with their command. Masks covered their faces and expressions, not that I liked looking at humans anyway. A guard was behind them, but I did not smell iron human blood.

I had heard of this before. This was an Android, tougher than humans and Marines due to that they're robots, and commonly used in Weyland-Yutani Industries, lesser due to the fact that Weyland was one. They had tough armor on their heads and torsos, and usually the most effective way of killing one was to put a heavy attack through its legs and rip out its throat with your teeth. It's a lot harder than it looks.

I had never faced one, and didn't want to. I was just using these guys to see where my companions were.

The scientists and the Android entered a code-enabled door access, and soon enough, as I slunk after them with my tail streaming in ribbons behind me, that a bunch of indestructible glass vials filled with Face-huggers, our molecular acid blood, and Xenomorph parts, were laying all over this place.

This is exactly what I had hoped not for. I felt the rest of what I had left in me urge to come out.

Flushing down a feeling of light-headedness and squeamishness, I picked my way over to the next door the scientists approached. It opened, again, by code access. The Android stood by the door, unnoticing my presence as I slid in after the curious scientists.

Aliens held in glass tubes, some cages had more than one, the highest I counted five, were pressed against the back of an open room, with a control panel monitoring the process of the Xenomorphs. Others that had been lost for some time I could tell were in here, but once they smelled someone outside, me, they started a racket.

"What's that all about?" asked the scientist, warily eyeing a red button to his left.

"Who the hell cares?" disagreed the other, "they're probably screaming at us 'Pick me, pick me!'"

The first scientist snorted and mushed one of the gray buttons on the main control lid. One of the cages was hoisted to the front of the corridor. As I smelled the Xenomorph inside, I did not recognize him, but I pitied him. He was only trying to hunt, and he and the rest of the Xenomorphs had been caught and placed in this place of Hell. It made me seethe from the inside, wanting to drop in now and just break all this free.

But I knew I had to stand here and watch.

The scientist opened the door to the chamber, and the other walked in with a metal claw and electricity sparking off the side. He jabbed it at my sister, and she yelped and screamed, thrashed and turned.

Covering my gaze from the horror, I could hear them poking at her with the stick, and she screamed in fear and terror. As soon as she had been transported to the next room over, with all the glass vials, she was placed on a table with a metal tube getting hoisted down over head. Metal clamps were placed on her side and legs and fore-claws, and realization hit me, making me dizzy.

_This is… This is my dream! _I recalled the last nightmare I had had two days ago, getting placed upon a lab table with things getting injected into your skin. I had felt this, the pain and terror. I imagined how horrible it must all be, to be sitting there, knowing now you had no means of escape whatsoever.

_I had not been seeing the future! I was dreaming a living nightmare!_

Terror was washing over me at every word I thought, and I felt so sick I retched the rest of my food all over the duct walls. Great. Again.

I turned to see what they were doing to this poor Xenomorph, but they just took a few samples of her blood and put it on the cart that they had pushed into the room. The Android that had been watching them remained silent.

As the vial was placed into a secure lock on the cart, they started to wheel it out, leaving the acid-bleeding Xenomorph on the table. As the Android followed them, I took this chance to lope out of the walls and land beside the chained-down sister I had. When she looked up, I could see the horror, fear, and pain ebbing in her gaze.

"Wh…. What?" She saw me and blinked.

"I'm here to get you out of here." I peered closely at the bonds that held her down and wondered if acid blood could leak them down and get her free But I didn't want to hurt her or me any, so I privately disagreed with myself.

"You can't," she gasped. "It's too late. Get the others! Leave me behind."

I shook my head, knowing I didn't have a heart for that. "You're coming, too." I tried lashing out at one of the bonds holding her against the table, but to no use. She was stuck here, unable to more on her command. I scarcely remembered my dream, knowing that it felt bad not to wriggle and worm when you wanted to.

"They're right," the female Xenomorph breathed. "You really are a hero." She paused for a moment to watch my failing attempts. "You can't break them," she growled at me, adding in to her previous comment. "Until they get me out of here, you won't be able to break my caging tools."

Glaring at it, I said in a desperate voice, "There must be some way."

Waving her tail above her head, the female Xenomorph retorted darkly, "No! Get out of here and run for it. Get the rest of us and move on! I will be a burden anyway! Why did Number 6 let you come here?"

I paused, remembering. "I – I didn't… Number 6 wasn't allowing a search party, so I snuck out and tried to find you all myself."

She growled at me. "Xenomorphs don't think like that."

"Well, maybe they should start!" I hissed at her.

_Why am I the different one? They didn't even want to be saved… Who am I?_

The female Xenomorph gave up. "Fine, whatever. But leave me here, please. Get the others out first and then come back out for me."

I wanted to snap back at her, but she added snappily, "Go! The humans are coming! Hurry!"

Letting some of my senses go, I didn't detect anything. Frustration washed over me in piles. _Huh. My senses really are bust._

Barreling into the room over, I could hear a scientist say, "Now let's get back to X-84."

I searched the panel of controls, but so many symbols made no sense to me. I lashed out at a button, but it only let out a ring. I shut it off, but the scientists looked up. They were close enough for me to sense that.

I wailed desperately, but not very loudly. I looked into the caging rooms before me, and wondered that the control panel humans used would not support my escape with these Xenomorphs. I would have to get in that room and break them from those cages myself. I dropped to the ground in a roll and jumped into the vent again, narrowly avoiding my spill of guts and smelly human remains.

Cracking my tail against the metal, I broke through the thin skin of the area and saw the cages below me. Xenomorph faces were pressed against the glass, leaving cloudy breaths of white all over the smooth surface.

Slithering down, I found a Xenomorph closest to me with saliva dripping from her steamy lips. She was beat and battered, and scars littered her. These Xenomorphs had been in here forever.

_Why did no one tell me!?_

I wanted to make sure every single one of these Xenomorphs got out and got to live life like it should be lived. Not stuck in these cages feeling remorse since you know what is bound to happen to you. Bound to be caged to those tables like the poor Alien the room over, getting dissected and studied, although being dissected would be hard for our kind since acid blood would just leak everywhere.

I approached the cage door and nosed it, and she peered at me. The male beside her hissed in alarm. I turned and saw the scientists with their furious and scared dead eyes staring at me, with their hands over the alarm key I had pressed.

Alarms blazed overhead, ringing in my "ears." I belted for the glass and cracked it with my tail, shattering it to bits. The female Xenomorph looked at me with unmatched gratitude, before going to help with the other cages.

Cage after cage was broken and cracked, and I dropped down to all fours as they were opened, every last one. I peered over my shoulder in horror as Androids glared through the glass, getting ready to shoot anything that moved. Subtly, I raced across the pavement and hissed at the others "Follow me!"

We dove into the ventilation ducts, at least 15 of us. Scrambling tails and claws scratched the back of my legs and bumpy tail as I raced on, but I ignored it. Only the end of all this matter now.

And once the light lifted, I jumped.

Except instead of a living nightmare this time – it was real.

The leap of faith ended as I hit the wall on the other side. It was time to escape with all of these Xenomorphs. Hissing bundles smacked into the walls as they darted, furious paws leaving smears in the dusky tiles. Androids erupted from the lab, no expression readable on their perfectly balanced faces.

Gunfire rattled the air, but I dodged it, leaping and swooping like I could do nothing else. I swerved past a scatter shot, but one time I did get hit.

I screeched as an unbelievably painful hit came across my stomach, right along the side of it. Collapsing to the ground, I let out a very long wail. No one this time was going to rush to my help. They had no clue about this so-called great destiny I had ahead of me, they just wanted freedom.

I pressed on, but these Xenomorphs wanted war. They rained down on the Androids from the walls, and I turned to glare at them in a puzzled state of confusion. We weren't supposed to be here to fight, we were supposed to be getting out of here!

I swooped down to join them, but my stomach blazed. I was weak, and running around like this wasn't smart. I could hear the screeches of the Xenomorphs as they tackled the Androids, and the robotic voices of the Androids screeching right back as the Xenomorphs toppled them over. Tails got mingled by armed gloves, and tail attacks got blocked and punched. Claw swipes were countered. It was too much. I had not been helping these Xenomorphs. I had started war.

Pressing on, I wanted them all to just stop right then and there and listen to a few words I spoke, but even when I tried to ask someone to tell others to stop they said 'Okay' but it was never effective. They all continued to fight and battle, and Androids did die, but so did my own kind.

Screeching in a knotting battle, I tackled an Android over on his side. White blood smeared against the floor, and he growled at me, his robotic voice threatening.

As he lifted his gun to kill me, I used a fast-attack claw swipe and it made him stagger back. As he rushed forward to punch me back, I raised up both arms and his attack just got thrust off helplessly. I clawed him one, and he fell back, struggling to get up. By the time he was on his feet he got slung by my coiled tail.

Moving on to my next opponent, I just snuck up behind him and wrapped my hand over his face, and drove my tail though his stomach. Another Android caught me while I was preforming the attack and I got shot. I squealed and leapt for the nearest exit.

Others were flushing back the Androids, but some of us, well a lot of us were dying. It was not like we had a whole war of writhing Xenomorphs out here! Hell, we had only 15! Seven were left standing, and I didn't want to see any more die.

"That's enough, let's go!" I screamed. "Get moving, get out of here! If you want to survive you need to keep on moving now!"

Everyone stopped the battle and started to move to the exits. However, my command did not silence the programmed Androids. Tons of things were shooting after us, grenades, terrible gunfire. A few of us got shot, but besides the ones that had died already we were safe. But the mass wave of Androids moving quickly towards us scared me, and my nostrils were bust! I felt like I could not see anything! My sixth sense was supposed to be helpful!

As we raced for the nearest exit, I saw a few Xenomorphs behind me get trapped in. But soon enough they followed us out from cutting holes in the walls. The moonlight was already dim, and the morning was beginning to rise up and over the skyline. The Xenomorphs back at our camp would be wondering where we were right now. I felt fear for everyone here, because they needed to get back. Suddenly, I remembered the female Xenomorph I had left in the cages.

I had to get to her!

"Keep going without me," I offered, slipping away. "Run back to the Hive and tell them I'll be back soon."

Drifting away from the group, I watched them stare at me, and I stared back. "Go," I added. "You need to stay alive, but it's okay if I die. If I don't come back by tomorrow night, then you'll know what's happened."

I could see their gazes, wanting to help me, wanting to care for me. They wanted to stand by my side and offer as much of themselves as they could. But I was done with playing the hero. I did not need to be a hero, much. I was doing this for my Hive, not because I wanted all the female Xenomorphs in there to be jealous of my skill, wondering how hard they will now have to fight for the male Xenomorphs they wanted that were now going to chase after me.

I hated that kind of competition. I just wanted to be normal. I was already tired of my disobeying skills that was for sure. Everyone feared Number 6, but I had stood up to her and talked back without hesitation. I had gone off in the night to save these Xenomorphs, such it was that if the same dilemma had happened to them, rule-breaking was right off the table out of the question. It made me very ashamed.

And I did hate but love all the heroic comments.

As I dashed in through one of the holes the left-behind Xenomorphs had made getting out, I stared into the corridor that I had once left behind, and I could see where the female Xenomorph's room was. I tried along the pipes, but it was no use. I scrambled onto the wall and expertly climbed along the side.

Jumping off the wall and landing on the catwalk, I approached the door. Due to the alarm, it had been shut, so there was no entry into the place. I gaped in alarm, scratching the door to see if it would open. It never did.

This was impossible. There had to be some way around it. I jumped down off the catwalk and to the ground and weaved my way through some more vents, getting lost occasionally. The well-polished blue and silver walls and doors and floors got me confused a lot, but I gathered my bearings and made on.

I rested in a room after searching awhile. And could hear Marines preparing beneath me. Maybe I could use them to get into the room.

"Are you sure you don't want any help with that?" asked a white-skinned man with black hair and beard. His voice was worrisome and kind, but he seemed sure as if not trying too hard to show he was struggling not to laugh his brains out.

The female beside him, who had curly brown hair that fell between her shoulders, looked up at the man that had confronted her. "You know I can take care of myself," she sheered, noticing his expression.

"Suit yourself, then," the man countered, leaning in a very laid-back manner against the railing that support a bunch of crates overhead. "Bet that you-"

"Dallas! Just shut up and get your own loads! I got these stims I gotta carry outta here." She hoisted up a bunch of crates that wobbled in her arms, and the man just stared after her as she left the room.

I watched him, interested, as he picked up a few rattling crates and placed them on a shelf overhead.

Tilting my head, I continued to watch. Humans did not usually partake in such odd behavior, I noted. This was intriguing. He was not all that muscular it seemed, his arms shook a bit as he heaved the heavy cargo, but I noticed the slimmest remnant of rippling muscles underneath his arms as he placed them up there.

The door after a few more moments opened, and soon the female was standing again there in the doorway. Her eyes scanned the clearing. "D'you leave anything for me?" she shot at him as she padded in on her loud boots.

"By golly, Ripley. Why don't you get over here and help me out with this?" He extended a heavy crate towards her, and he offered a weak smile. "If you're so tough."

Ellen stepped back when she noticed the box, with its intimidating size. She reached forward to grab it, but as soon as Dallas let go of the box it crumpled to the floor, leaving him in a laughing heap as Ripley leapt back in alarm.

"Shoot, Dallas!" Ripley raged, angrily glaring at the black-haired man. "You want me to get a broken toe or somethin'?"

Dallas raised up his arms defensively. "You can take care of yourself," he drawled, the grin clearly visible on his face. "Better not butt in like I did last time!"

Ripley crossed her arms and glared at him, before a flush spread across her face. "Fine," she growled at last. "You take care of it." She abandoned him from the room before he could retort anything.

"You know," Dallas yelped out after her, "maybe working together would help!" But she never came back.

Sighing, Dallas slung a bag over his shoulder and followed her out. I got to my paws as I noticed them to leave. I was to lure them towards the door and make them open it. I crouch in the ventilation ducts as I listened to Dallas catch up with Ripley.

As he looked like he was about to speak, a scientist inferred, "Well, well, well, Dallas. It's about time you showed up. With some of your experience, I think you can help us out here."

When the black-haired male passed her, Ripley grumbled, "Some profession, all right."

Not caring or not hearing, Dallas paused by the scientist and listened to what he had to say. I bothered little with the chat, but Dallas' eyes flooded over with another emotion. As he turned to check something he'd been asked to out, Ripley stood in his way and growled at him. Knocking back in alarm, Dallas peered his eyes at her.

"What do you want?"

Folding her arms again, Ripley retorted, "I want to go with you." She glared at the doctor and spat to him, "And let me go, you better, because I need to make sure this goofball stays in check." She reached for the bag over Dallas' shoulder and wrapped it around her own. "Let's go."

The black-haired male followed after her, making a pretend face-palm and winking at the scientist, who only glared after them darkly. Once I noted that they were heading in the direction of the lab I needed to get into, I slunk after them. Dallas pulled out a keynote pad and started clicking in to the door. It swiveled open, and the two stepped in.

At first glance of the wounded Xenomorph lying on the table, Dallas leapt back in alarm, remembering how he had had an experience with a Xenomorph from being trapped in a vent duct. He had barely escaped, and been skittish of all Aliens ever since, not taking too fondly to the fact that Weyland-Yutani even captured Xenomorphs. The rest of the crew on the Nostromo had believed Dallas was dead, but he was reunited with Ripley after he found out she'd survived. Dallas hated talking about it, so no one asked him.

I didn't know that at the time, but that was what happened.

"Chill out, Dallas," Ripley retorted to his sudden reaction of the Xenomorph. "It can't kill us from here. Don't get your pretty black beard in a knot."

Dallas snorted at the last remark – and silently slithered in after Ripley had. He scanned the shelves for any Face-huggers that had would want to kill him, but it didn't seem like they were alive anymore. Something else that made me want to throw my guts up.

I slipped in after Dallas had. He was still staring nervously around, and I wanted to laugh at him if I could. Even with my weak smelling skills, it was still very possible for me to detect the intoxicating scent of fear wafting off of him. Ripley looked at him with a tilted head – ah, they do tilt their heads! – and blinked.

"What's the matter, Dallas?" she responded. "Scared of a little Xenomorph?" She approached the one laying on the table, and the black-haired man stiffened as a result. "It can't hurt me," she rasped, as she touched the tip of its tail blade with her finger. "Go ahead and try it."

Dallas shook his head a few times. "There isn't any way I'm touching that thing," he spat, his eyes narrowed. "Leave Hell to look after them."

Ellen rolled her eyes. "Just try it," she insisted, snaking his hand in her own as he walked by. Dallas flinched from the sudden touch, and eyed her suspiciously.

"It's like you want me to get _eaten."_

"Shoot, Dal, I ain't here to waste time. Just touch the damn thing!"

Gingerly, Dallas poked the blade, then immediately stepped back. "Happy?" he chortled. "Now, let me do with what I was _supposed _to be doing in here." He approached the slide-in table and picked up a few things. "Have fun touching that thing."

Ripley grinned ear-to-ear. "I know you still have your little boy pants on," she tried to comfort.

Dallas turned from where he was working and glared at her. I watched with interest at the conversations they were having. They seemed to be joking about the stupidest things, I noticed. Dallas had a right to fear us, and Ripley had seen us too many times to be scared. She wasn't that clone or anything, she was skin and blood, but she wasn't afraid. She just wasn't.

Dallas' glare turned from anger to a mixture of embarrassment and surprise that Ellen would say anything like that. "What the hell-" he started.

"Just shut up and get back to business. I don't want to be in here any longer than we have too."

The black-haired man turned around grumbling to himself. Ellen grinned behind his back, her face smug with satisfaction. "Done," Dallas retorted. "Now let's get-"

_Hiss!_

I had been deciding when to drop in on the two of them so that they could run out and leave the door open, so I wouldn't get trapped in, and I chose then. I landed right in front of Dallas Arthur, and let out the most terrifying scream I could muster.

Terrified to his bones, Dallas took off with his data, face as pale the moonlight I thought had felt good. Ellen Ripley stared in surprise and did the same thing.

I looked to where the poor Xenomorph was laying on the table.

"I thought you'd forgotten me," she hissed.

I smiled at her and flagged my tail. "I wouldn't forget about you," I warned her. I looked at the handles. "I just got to figure out how to get this thing off of you." I examined the surface of it and found no real way in which to get rid of the latch holding my sister down.

Glaring at the handles, I chortled, "I'll figure it out. It's got to be on this control panel or something." Padding over to the control panel, I opened up the box which was previously locked but a tail lash cracking against it opened it up just fine. I peered at the controls, worried about something bad happening.

I saw a symbol that looked like something was unlatching. I tried the button, but nothing worked.

"Hurry," the female Xenomorph begged me, her voice a thin wail. "I don't want to die here and know the rest of us got us. Please."

Turning to her, I only nodded. "Doing my best," I started quickly, scrambling at the control panel ahead of me. "I can't guarantee anything though." I sniffed curiously at the thing, and popped open the latch. The things holding my sister down unclamped, and she was freed. She dipped me a nod of gratitude, then she belted for the door.

It was at that time that I guess I should have been worrying about more fervent matters, like what Dallas and Ripley were going to tell the others – a Xenomorph attack in the lab? I knew know that there was no one out of this. I was pressed her, and I was consumed in what to do next.

I focused on following after my sister and escaping with her, planning the route in my head in which to take after her. My tail swooped low over the ground, and I finalized the decision. Bad it was also at this time that the world, not unlike before, seemed to slow down for me. It was like my limbs could not move, which was indeed the weirdest thing that could have. It was like I was running a slow-motion world, and that my attackers could walk in fast motion. It was like I was trapped, like in the dream I had back in the Refinery. Oh, how I missed the Refinery! Its gooey walls would comfort me now, but I really did not want to see Number 6 in her attitude rage. I really did not.

I knew that it was also the closest thing to home for me. It was the place I was going to grow up, and I had to either accept that fact or leave it behind. I wanted to make peace with terrible terror Number 6, but it didn't seem that she wanted that same peaceful thought. It somehow made me sad that two awesome female Xenomorphs could not be friends together.

But as I neared the entrance of the door, that was when the whole lab was burst into flame.


	3. Chapter 3

I was shoved and fell down hard on my side. I felt as though I must have broken something. After the impact, I felt as though I could have been dead, I was in that much pain. A horrible cry muddled up into the air as I squeaked in protest.

There, sitting up above me, was a heavily panting Number 6, her sides heaving from effort. A determined look in her showed me how deadly she was. Getting up on her hind legs and bending over intimidatingly, she roared at a couple of scientist's face, who all cringed and ran as far as they could. Just to get a better hill of it, she added another, louder scream over that one.

But something was still standing there in the distance, looking at us. Once the two creatures locked their gazes, the female screeching Alien paused.

It was Weyland, the Android one. Karl Bishop Weyland, I remembered.

His face lacked an emotion, and his glare was focused right at the Alien standing before him. However, I could feel my world tipping all over, and the last thing I could remember was Number 6 stretching out her paws to Weyland. And then the whole of the scene was absorbed in the darkness.

* * *

I got up too fast. I knew this because my bones creaked and cracked and I let out a desolate wail. A tail brushed my shoulder and comforted me.

"You're up!" prided the familiar voice of Barb. "About time, too."

I looked up, a sudden feeling of guilt washing over me. "I thought you stopped talking to me," I warned him. "And suddenly it's like you come bearing gifts." I stared empty-minded at his evenly empty claws, and I dozed off.

"Get back in full attention," spat Barb. "And no, I wasn't ignoring you, I was trying to get rid of that Victory female before she became too much of an issue."

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"Three days tops. And you still need rest because you suffered fatal blows."

"6, Number 6. She saved me, didn't she?" I questioned.

Barb nodded. "She did. She was mad, but she ran all the way to that lab to make sure you were okay." Barb touched his paw to my tattered arm. "You just need some rest. Soon enough, you'll be fine. Now lay your head back down, you need to sleep for like, two weeks at the least."

"The least?" I gagged.

"Oh yeah," Barb prided. "That's the least you could do."

Sighing, I pulled my tail closer to me. "About Victory, now that she's back on my mind. You never told me why she was picking on me. Why don't you say that now?"

Barb glared at me. "No. I can't tell you. She wouldn't like it… And neither would I."

I could only glare back at him. "Er, okay." I tried to get up, and flexed my claws on the metal. "How did I get back here?" I asked him, my voice rising up in curiosity as I tilted my head at him.

"Oh," Barb started. "Once Number 6 got there, the rest of us, at least a select few, ran and followed her. I was one of them, and I and Mercy Claws carried you home. You became unconscious from your wounds, and of shock, I believe." He flicked his curled tail. "I mean, you're lucky you're alive. You really are supposed to live, huh?"

Dipping my head, I offered, "I guess so." After a brief pause, I continued, "Well, at least that means I won't partake in any rushes. Have there been any of those since I was, well, passed out?"

Barb shook his head. "No, not really. After that little mission you did, the humans haven't been showing up much." He smiled at me. "Which means you did something good."

I fell back. "I haven't gotten anyone else that hates me?" I requested, demanding an answer.

"Not a one. Sometimes, people come to admire your bravery. As soon as you get back to full health, Number 6 wants a word with you though. She's not a very happy Xenomorph, if you know what I mean." His grin got larger. "But dang, you really surprised her."

The grin that I suppressed was that of a massive one. "Oh," I said, though my inner jaw snapped and snared. "I really wouldn't make sure she was surprised," I hissed.

Barb smiled again, his tail lashing out. "Ha! Your sarcasm grows daily! But in fact, your bravery is not the only thing that makes others come and admire you," he added, head tossing to-and-fro.

Frowning, I growled, "It's not?"

"Nope," Barb continued. "They think you are some sort of savior, a hero, from the sky, because you save the lives of every single of the Xenomorphs in the Research Lab, even the ones that were there before. You really do have a good destiny ahead of you, don't you? I mean, you're on fire!"

"So?" I asked. "I just think that Aliens should look after one another."

"Well, it started uproars," the taller Xenomorph began. "Some agree, others… don't." He laughed a bit. "Doesn't matter. They think you are some sort of legend. They think you're like Number 6, some kind of unusually smart Warrior."

Growling, I spat, "I'm not smart! If I was smart, I would have listened to Number 6."

Barb slapped his tail against the metal wall behind me. "No, that's what makes you smart! You have everything, bravery, courage… and you're… well. You know. Intelligent."

_That wasn't what he was about to say._

"Right. So, what do I get in return?" I asked. "A pat on the back?"

Shaking his head, Barb added, "The Matriarch requested to see you."

I went still. So still in fact, that Barb must have thought I turned into a statue. He peered at me, curiously. I turned to look at him, startled, my tail curling in a feat of surprise. "Why would she… No, I think you've got it wrong."

Sighing, Barb snapped, "Well, she does. You need to see her as soon as you can. In fact, after I let you stretch your legs outside, and after you get a meal, then you need to leave. Number 6 is gone already, she went after Nethead picked her up. So you'll see those guys once you get there. I can't go with you, I can only escort you to the Hive's Matriarch chamber. Who knows, you might even get your name."

My tail went around in happy whisking arcs. Water dripped onto me from up above. "Sounds exciting enough," I yawned. "Well, when can I go out?"

The taller Xenomorph grinned at me and scratched at an itch on his fore-claws. "Well, you can stay in here first and talk to everyone, and as soon as you're ready, then we can get out of here. I'm sure you'd want to find some fresh air on your skin, yes?"

I dipped my head. "Sure does. Okay then, I'll get up now."

As soon as I moved my legs I yowled out in pain, stiffening up in horror. I pressed against the slimy metal walls and took heavy breaths. Barb looked at me in concern. "Take it easy, get up slow."

Listening, I soon enough straightened up, but my slim Xenomorph muscles and slender frame shaped like an hourglass screamed in reply, refusing to want to listen to my Alien brain. I panted heavily, my sides heaving. I winced as I took a step, but Barb pressed against me to help with support.

"I told you to move slowly. Now work with me."

Although I really did not want him to be guiding me like a helpless worm-ling, I decided with my body to agree with him for once and let his steps lead mine. I placed my own fore-claws and paws down at the same time he did, moving in a line across the Refinery. Injuries sucked, and the bullet that had scraped my stomach wasn't helping. Did I suffer internal bleeding?

Trekking across the pavement, we took a couple of laps around to help relieve my stiff muscles. Although they reeked at me with unpleasant feelings about the way I was forcing myself to move, I disagreed with their argument and pressed on, not letting the pain overcome me.

The work sucked for the most part, but it was effective. Soon afterwards, my aching bones didn't feel so bad.

"Does that help?" asked Barb. "Do you feel like you can walk on your own?"

I stepped back away from him, glad I was no longer having to press against his soft, silky Alien skin. Testing a paw on the surface of the Refinery's floor, I let out a sigh that it was not so hard anymore. Flicking my tail side-to-side, I offered him, "Yeah, feels better than how it used to."

"Good," Barb agreed. "Now come on, I'll leave you alone and let you talk to some people. Once you're ready to feel the fresh air, come over to me. Where I'll be, simply in the loft that leads to behind the Refinery, you know, the place we hunted when you were a day old?"

I nodded. "Got you."

Grinning, the tall Xenomorph raced out of sight. Testing another claw on the ground, I pressed it hard and whimpered as the pain raced through me. My wounds were harder than I thought. But I had been shot, exploded, and pushed, and these wounds were real. Not a simple scratch across my snout from Number 6, but real battle wounds.

Silence Within noticed that I was finally walking, and she creaked her aging bones, although she wasn't that old, over to me, a happy smile working its way onto her face, which was cut and scarred from a history unlike any other.

"It's good to see you're walking again," she prided, her gaze scanning me. After a quick sniff to the flank, and she stepped back. "You suffered a hard hit. How you managed to survive that, I don't know. Any ordinary Xenomorph would have been killed from that explosion. You are a true Hive savior."

I ducked my head. "It wasn't really that much," I tried again. "I just think Xenomorphs should be more caring of one another. That we should start looking after each other."

Silence Within shrugged her shoulders and curled her tail around her paws. "Huh. Well, you might just make a change," she offered, and walked off.

I talked to many other Xenomorphs, gathering their knowledge, them telling me it was really brave but really stupid that I disobeyed a direct order against Number 6. I could only snort at them and tell them the same things I told Silence Within. I felt like a profane Xenomorph, disobeying the code of the Matriarch. I felt like a disease-minded Alien, one that was defected like me with her lack of senses.

Then I stopped short. Ahead of me two paces, was Victory.

She used her senses to smell me out short.

Turning to her friends, she growled, "Look, it's her. Our hero."

Shifting from paw to paw, I spat, "I guess there's another day when you've got your tail tied into a knot."

As her friends laughed at my comment, Victory spun around to face me, grabbing me by the throat and not caring how badly my wounds ached to that. I twitched under her claws and thrashed my tail. The sharp spokes of her Alien daggers dug under the sensitive flesh right beneath my head and on my neck, and she jabbed painfully at the flesh, until a soft sizzling steam of Xenomorphic blood pooled beneath us.

She lifted up her tail and cracked it against my skull, and I reeled back, alarmed. "You are a disgrace, fool," she snarled, lashing her claws out at me, until one scarfed me across the snout, sending pain blearing across me. "No Xenomorph disobeys the orders of an Alpha Alien, traitor! And if you don't belong here, then where exactly do you fit in?"

I gagged at her. "With the humans?" I guessed.

Her menacing growl almost scared me. But I hated her unlike any other Xenomorph, and I felt things were going to get messy for me. She yanked me forward by my neck again, and she sneered down before me. "With the _dead!" _she growled.

Alarm flared through me, adrenaline coursing through my slim bones. My head was scarfed, but fortunately nothing vital was punctured by her claws or tail. My feet got little footing on the ground as I slipped and slid in my blood that tore holes in the rusty metal, and my tail was curling, poised for attack.

The other Xenomorph's grip soon cuffed me and I was thrown back, a frenzy of fighting, infuriated claws meeting me. I gasped and churned beneath her, trying to throw her off, but her grip was tight, and she was strong. The tough claws that I tried to pierce did not even flinch at my attacks, and I was fighting angrily to get her off. She slid her tail to my chest, threatening to dig it beneath my ribcage.

Fighting, I wheeled her off of me, and she was tossed back alarmed, but her tail dig just as she threatened, but she misplaced her aim and thumped me across the head instead, again. I was blasted off my feet and I tumbled around for a minute, before landing sprawled.

Weight pressed down on me from above and I screeched as her claws scored marks in my shoulders. Blood sizzled down on top of me, and just to prove their lack of witnesses, Victory's companions had fled. We were alone, me and her, finally battling it out here. And I was scared as hell.

I used my tail this time and smashed it against her arm, but to no prevail. Instead, I stealthily slipped it under her and sliced her stomach. Blood splattered on top of me, and she screamed in alarm, taking off of me for a slip second.

Getting to my feet, I could see her there, glaring at me. "Fight like a warrior, not a coward."

"Why should we fight at all?" I demanded, but she lashed out at me with her inner jaw, threatening to clear the rest of my head off. To scalp me, to destroy me. I knew that with her experienced killing claws that she was capable of the task. She could kill me in moments, but she would be considered a corrupted mind; we could fight and maim in arguments, but killing was off the table. Except for Number 6, Nethead, or the Matriarch.

"Because, I hate you. After all you've done to me. You even stole Barb from me!"

I paused at the last remark. "Stole Barb? Oh, no. He's still yours, I'm just his friend. He's been teaching me all this stuff, and he's a real great guy and all, but I think that he still likes you."

Victory hissed so deathful that even I stepped back. "He will never stop talking about you," she growled. "Like, 'Have you seen her? She's so amazing!' or 'I wish you'd been like that a long time ago.' He likes you. He really, really likes you!"

Terror clawed up inside.

"But you can have him. I don't like him. Only as a friend," I stated as calmly as I could muster.

"Please. You know you can't stay away from him!"

"Victory? What are you rambling on about?"

It was Barb. He was walking up behind her, and as soon as he saw me, he stopped and shrank.

"Is it true?" I growled.

He paused. "Is what true?"

"That you like me! She's screaming all of this at me, telling me all your lies!" I was clawing at the ground in a state of confusion and frustration, wanting it all to end.

"O-of course not. She's just jealous of you and trying to make you feel bad. Victory, stop telling her all this because you know it's not true." He looked over at me and said, "That's enough with talking to anyone. Let's get that walk outside."

I listened. I hoped it wasn't true.

Because if it was… was there a way out?

* * *

The outside was lush and beautiful. Butterflies swarmed and flew all over the place. Grass beds were laid all over the place. Beautiful streams crisscrossed all over the place. Trees that looked like an Earth's willow bushed itself in the clearing. There was only one thing that disturbed the peace, the quiet.

The human buildings.

As far as the eye could see, human crap was laid all over the place, filling the area and stinking everything. The gorgeous scenery could not be evenly balanced with the human garbage and machinery. The scent of flowers was unmatched together with the detection of mines, so heavy that even my horrible nose could filter it through. Puddles once blue or murky green with algae now turned muddy from gasoline and oil entering the ecosystem. But still, the good weather felt nice on me, but definitely not the smell.

That was totally not okay.

Barb led me down a trail paved by human hands, so run over by car wheels that it was to leave permanent smears in the soil. Still, it led to a stream, which sounded nice since I hadn't had anything to drink for days. Once I got over to the water, my inner jaw could not resist to snap out immediately and lick and lap at the water. Barb laughed.

"I guess the water seemed that nice," he offered, smiling. "I guess some water wouldn't hurt me now, I suppose. I mean, why waste the offer?" He tipped his head back and snapped openly at the luscious water, letting it flow over his inner jaw and into his mouth. He shook himself off, refreshed.

I was finished, and soon enough, although I hated the rush of water, I drowned myself into it, splashing and churning to clear off my bloodied wounds.

"Nice thinking! I've never seen that before."

Shaking off the droplets from my shiny black shin, I peered at him closely. "Really?" I asked. "It was just a thought that occurred to me. Maybe cleaning off my wounds would lessen the chances of it becoming infected."

Barb dipped his head. "I never said it was bad," he stated simply. "Let's get to some shaded cover now."

Finished dribbling off the clingy water, I padded after my friend and followed him up a tree, using my deadly fore-claws to push and my prehensile tail to balance. My slim frame scarcely wobbled as I determinedly clawed up the rough bark underfoot and found handholds on a slender branch arcing in a curl, that was graceful and both support our weight.

"So," began Barb as he used his claws to leave gallant scores in the tree bark, churning up bits of wood as he proceeded to do so. "What was the Research Lab like?"

Flicking the tip of my bladed tail, I said, "Oh. That place. It was dark and spooky. I didn't like the smell either. That's all I can remember."

Amused, the tip of Barb's tail visibly twitched in his sheer enthusiasm. "I see. The smell wasn't that great to me either. You're not alone in this place." He watched as some butterflies bounded by. "Trust me. It was burning my throat. You're probably used to it." He glanced at me and winced when he detected my furious glare. "No offense! No offense." He laughed nervously.

Trying hard to ignore his snide comment, I whisked my tail and climbed onto a higher limb, it swinging seldom underneath my weight. A bird of our planet screeched in alarm and shot into the sky.

I was enjoying the view before I smelt it.

A human camp. I looked down to where Barb was sitting beneath me. His gaze was scanning the distant forest beyond the Refinery. Longing? Want perhaps? Not sure. That was what little I could muster to read in his glare.

"Hey um, I'm going to check something out… I'll be right back."

I could hear his voice swirling down far below me. "Um, okay then. Be back soon."

I jumped to the ground and padded along the floor, my pads scarcely leaving soft mud prints in the soil. I poised my tail above the ground so it would not drag. Leaving a long line through the soft earth would not be a good idea.

Trekking a short ways off the tree branch Barb was awaiting, I made sure I hid in to my surroundings so he couldn't detect me. It was harder to smell out his own scenting range because my senses were so increasingly dull. I wanted to tear up the ground beneath me in an agonizing rage for my damp senses that I depended so fiercely on.

The closer I got, the stinker the stench. I swear the old base behind the Refinery is what made my smelling so crappy. Oh wait, it was terrible before that.

Never mind.

The lush undergrowth provided cover. I pressed hard to the grassy beds that supported my blending in abilities. Although it was midday, the protection the rocks and stones gave me was unbelievable. I lingered in the shadows, keeping my cylinder head low.

Then I could see them.

The Marines. Building camp. I lowered my head, making sure not to engage, although their words had little meaning to me. My gaze swooped their campsite, and my lip curled with a few drips of saliva in disgust.

"So, tell me about it," began a Marine as I pressed near. "What was the Xenomorph jumping down on top of you like?"

A familiar other peered at him. "By hell, leave him alone. He's obviously spooked."

The first Marine that I noticed turned to glare down at who I remembered was Ellen Ripley. "Spooked? He's scared as shit. I've seen baby cattle braver."

Ellen Ripley growled at the guy, then thrust him off the chair he leaned against. "So what, a couple of baby horse-heads are stupider than him to actually be brave around one of those things? You think you wouldn't have screamed your head off either, hmm?"

Laughing, the Marine returned to his previous position. "I wouldn't flinch a bit, hon." He reached out for her arm, but Ripley jerked it away.

"I'm not impressed, Corporal," she spat, streaming away from the Marine and walking to some other guy.

I smelled her scent disappear, and I followed it. I had retrieved valuable information from her before. Making sure I was still invisible to her searching eyes, I hid behind one of the tents that littered the field.

"Dallas, he didn't mean nothin'," Ripley demanded. "You know he didn't."

The laid-back man turned to look at her, a smug look on his bearded face. "Eh? His words don't matter to me none. Dear, you already know that." He grinned, blue-green eyes flashing through his massive eyebrows. "What'd he do to your arm?"

Ripley glanced down at her violated arm. "Just touched it, it wasn't anything-"

Dallas' glare was on her and now peeking behind her to see the man that had touched her arm in an attempt to impress her. "Hell, he better not have."

The female standing above him passed him another cola on his request, then took a seat across from him. "I'm telling you Dal, he was just being stupid like the rest of these crack heads here. No harm done."

The handsome man across from her cocked his brow in a toothy grin. "His mother ever teach him some manners?"

Ripley grinned back. "Don't think anyone here even had a mother."

The two humans shared a laugh.

I found a nice limb to observe them on, and was now clambering my way up to it. My tail dangled loosely from beneath me, and I curled in around the branch to make it less visible. My kind was good at sneaking.

Claws curling into the surface, I repositioned myself on the dangling arch threaded with vines and ivy nettles. I avoided the pokey parts and ducked my head, continuing to smell out their movements and voices, although little they meant to me.

"Well shoot. How many colas you got in there?" asked Dallas.

Ripley peered in. "Five. You sure you don't want a smoke or nothin'?" she offered.

The man waved his hand in dismissal. "Nah, ain't out here to get drunk and sweet off my ass or anything like that."

Great. Humans are here. Close to the Refinery. They move fast.

"Damn, it was just a suggestion." Ripley smiled at him. "Might help you relax."

Dallas raised his hands. "If you think I'm high, dear, then I suggest you _stop _drinking for a little while." He winked. "Might help you relax."

The female shoved him playfully.

"Alright, alright!" Dallas grinned at her. "But there's no way in Hell I'm taking a smoke. Not like you an' Lambert back on the Nostromo. Stank like crap in there, 24/7."

Ripley growled. "That ship had conditioning and you know it, Arthur!" she spat.

Dallas flinched at the word of his last name, but he only shrank in defeat. "I know, I know." He scratched inanimately at his chest. "Here, hand it over." He lifted an outstretched hand and Ripley placed her cigarette in it. The handsome man took out his lighter and placed the smoke in his mouth, burning side away from him. He covered up that side as he exposed the open flame with a _click. _After that, he took a whiff, and brought down the flame stick, letting the after-smoke drift from his mouth in billowing clouds.

"Knew you couldn't resist," Ripley chuffed, getting her cigarette handed back to her.

The man shrugged. "There's just some times when you need one, I suppose." He laughed. "What'd Karl say about the Research Lab?" he questioned.

"It's getting better after the wreck. The one Xenomorph, the one that attacked you? Yeah, she supposedly caused a lot of damage." Ripley lit her cigarette. "You done with that coke already, Dal?"

Dallas nodded to the empty can in his hand. "Oh, yeah. Pass me another, will you?"

"Gee, Dallas. Didn't know you liked cola so much." She grimaced.

The man snorted. "Please. You go through a smoke pack a day, and drink two bottles of beer. And what does some sugar do? Give me a grin?"

Ripley snorted. "Never mind." She passed him the full can of cola. "Anyway, she caused a hell a lot of damage. The whole laboratory went to shit when she ran in there. Fire started, I hear. She let free that other Xenomorph, the one we had in captivity, and all the others. The one chained to the table, X-84? Got out too."

All Dallas could say was, "Damn."

"Well, that was all I heard. Karl found them in there when the lab was set on fire. I hear that… Well, come over a second."

I strained to listen but Ripley was now whispering in Dallas' ear. I wish my hearing was better. Well, my hearing is fine, is still fine, but Xenomorph hearing isn't superb.

As the two drew away, I resettled down, knowing I would have to leave soon so Barb wouldn't see me spying on this group of mongrels. If I was caught, I would most likely be questioned, and I didn't need that.

Taking a sip of his cola, Dallas inferred, "Xenomorphs don't usually cause heavy strikes like this. What do you think pressed them this time? You wonder if they actually are like a family and need to look after each other? Reckon they came to save their teammates from captivity?"

Ripley stared. "Obviously, they did! But shit, I ain't about to take orders from that guy. If we need anything, I say we start heading back to the lab to help out with the damage over there. What's this crap doing us for, no good? Nothin' ain't going to stop the Aliens from crossing over, our boundaries should be pretty set down."

"Ellen, chillax. Stop smoking that damn cigarette-" he yanked it from her grip and smothered it under his massive boot, "-and just listen, alright? We're here for the best. You know what you have to do. We'll get back to Weyland-Yutani soon."

Ripley glared ungratefully at the spot her now blackened cigarette had crumpled. "Really wish that wasn't where we had to be. Wish that wasn't where I got to meet you again."

Dallas snorted. "Hell, Ripley. You and the rest of the crew were damn sure I was dead. If you had gotten out of Weyland-Yutani, you probably wouldn't even know I exist. Probably would be living life as you usually see it now. I mean, Xenomorph infestations are your life now, but you're forgetting my point. Even if you wanted to go, after all you know, Karl wouldn't let you. You're stuck here until this is all over, you got me?"

The female across from the handsome man just shrugged. "What choice do I have, Dal?" she demanded. "To stay and suffer this? And you're right, I probably would have lived my normal life after that day, but I'm scarred! We were sure that Alien had gotten you in the primary shaft. After that, we were all doomed. Scarred, Dallas. Scarred."

Crossing his legs together, Dallas inferred, "I understand, Ellen. Shush up, now. Want me to grab you another smoke?" Trying to brighten the mood, he tried, "Might help you relax." Adding to it, he cocked a brow and grinned.

"Shoot, Dal. I'd love one," replied Ripley.

Getting up to go scavenge for a cigarette, Dallas tried to leave. But as soon as he stood up, Ripley's hand reached for his much larger one.

She said in a soft tone, "You know, I'm glad you survived."

Dallas brushed his hand against hers. "And I, you." He broke free from her grip and starting to make his way down the path carved my car tires.

I took this as a perfect chance of escape. And also, I had some information to warn the Matriarch of when I visited her. Returning to my tree, I noticed Barb still waving his tail down to me on the upper branches. We locked gazes, and I scrambled up the tree beside him, flagging my own briskly-waving tail.

"You ready to leave yet?" he asked, his voice smooth.

"Sure," I said, debating with my mind whether or not to tell Barb about the human camp. He must have overlooked it, or something.

The two of us jumped out of the bush and started to make our way back to the Refinery. We passed the stream we had drunken out of previously, and we made another quick stop there. Then, we retreated up the slope and slipped into the welcoming darkness of our home. I pressed through the crack in the side, but I noticed Barb wasn't heading to the hive.

"Where are you going?" I asked him as I loped after him in a nice gait, waving my claws.

He looked over his muscular shoulders at me. "To the Matriarch, remember? You still have to talk to her. Don't think you've escaped."

"I didn't. You can't come right?"

"Nope, I'm just escorting you to the place. Hope you don't mind seeing Number 6 again, I'm sure she won't be so harsh now she's under Nethead's and the Matriarch's watchful gaze." We pressed on, keeping low, but travelling quickly. I kept my head held high as I looked around, exploring new, vast areas of the Refinery I had never seen before. Hence, the walls were still filled with slimy, drippy goo, and the whole place smelled like carrion.

Not human carrion, good, actual carrion. Of meat, and food.

Huh.

We paused at a big metal door that was towering in demeanor and size both. It was slick with a glossy green haze, and it was rank in stench, but it smelled like home. This was where the Hive's queen was, I noticed. This was going to be a fun trip.

"See you around, female on fire," Barb teased, as he descended into the shadows. "Hope you survive."

After those words, silence.

I looked up at the massive structure, wondering if cars was what came through here, thus the massive size. Or a big, big place to get weaponry. Or a storage chamber. Whatever. It was the Matriarch's chamber now, and nothing else. I slipped through a crack in the door, and was engulfed in the power even I could sense in her.

She was massive, far more massive if I could ever believe. 15-30 feet in height, possibly. She had a crested head, not unlike Number 6, but far larger. She had a shell to protect her head; only a chin stuck out with a little bit of drool dripping off her teeth. Examining more, I saw four arms, two on her chest that curled up, and a pair of normal ones. She was not attached to any egg sac or anything, she was just curled up. Her tail was huge, waving to-and-fro in the lacking breeze.

However, I admired her poise and charm. She was gallant, with a dazzling frame that revealed her slender curves and sharp hips, and she was sleek, betraying her true demonic nature. Her beautiful dorsal tubes curled around her in slim arcs. The Matriarch's long legs with un-natural Xenomorph toes were sprawled beneath her, and the grace in her fore-claws was sweet, too.

This was the most amazing, beautiful, deadly, intelligent, and betraying Xenomorph I had ever seen.

And the _power _ebbing off of her was too much to bear.

This was an experience only the best of the best got to see. And to the corners of the room, two Xenomorphs were watching me.

I recognized Number 6, with her own crest and slim Xenomorph body. But next to her was a much smaller, more beat-up Warrior Dome I had never seen before.

His head had been ripped with a net thanks to the Celtic Predator. It caused a green, grid-like expanse over his head, scarring him for good. His teeth were savage-looking and threatening. His forearms and chest were beat and torn unlike any other Xenomorph's. Like Number 6, the thing on his head gave immediately away who he was. And not only that flaw, but he was also handicapped from a severed tail, which was now useless for combat and fighting.

This Xenomorph was hefty and strong, but he was sleek, too. The power off of him was unreadable, but he seemed far less angry than Number 6, who was flicking her tail beside him. His mood seemed normal, calm. Number 6's "normal" was angry, furious.

I hope I'm never like her.

The Queen could detect my presence from inside the room. She lifted up her head to get a look at me, her natural face peering out from underneath the protective shell. She snorted, and got to her feet, waving her chained tail with a massive roar.

_Ah. I see, the one who had disobeyed. The one who had slaughtered. Yet you come, nay you bow down in your respect for me. An interesting Xenomorph, which you very much are. Thus, I have summoned you from your chamber. Do you believe you are doing what is right? That the humans will just stop with the action of one single raid? Do you honestly think so? _

I paused and looked up at her, her glare fixed on me. Shifting, I retorted, "No, my Queen. Of course not. I was just trying to save your warriors. At times such like this, that is all we can use."

_Hmm. Your point of view does not lack color. No, it does not. Your concept is deceiving, however. But you have done much for me, wouldn't you agree? You show intelligence, a strong indicator of my Hive's strength. It points to you in the well-being you deserve. The honor you receive among my Warriors. They cherish you like a hero, but tell me this – were your intentions to become one with the most elite of the Xenomorphic Hive?_

Shaking my head, I yipped back, "No, it was not."

_Good. Loyalty, the fiercest bond a Matriarch could have with her subjects. Although, I needn't remind you that Number 6 also has an authority here. You disobeyed her order straight from your thoughts. It is not disloyalty that bathes you like a swarm among pheasants. No, it is doing the best you can muster for my Hive. I trust you are telling me the truth, are you not?_

My thoughts swarmed as she invaded my mind, her glare still unmoving, fixed on me. "Of course, I am. Why shall I deceive you? You are much too smart for that."

_Ah. You are intelligent. One that does not underestimate her opponents. Therefore, I am not your enemy, but your caution is not lacking. No, you have a high caution level. One that indicates intelligence not unlike Grid over there, Nethead, according to the scum humans. But yours is strong, a ferocity unlike any other I have seen. Your case is fascinating, perpetuating, and mysterious all the same. Would you not agree?_

I dipped my head in approval, appreciating her praise, but wary of her questioning. I knew the Matriarch, she was a deceiving Xenomorph, one so intelligent it was practically impossible to lie to her. She questioned me, but I knew she could tell the answer to all my questions, she was that good at these mind games.

"Of course. I little notice my actual intelligence above any other individual. Especially not any of that of Number 6's, or Nethead's. It is… intriguing of you to take such an interest in it."

_Hmm… You prosper well, surviving wounds that many of your kind would be felled from. That blast would have wiped out any other Xenomorph. Perhaps, such as those beyond these walls indicate, that you do have a destiny ahead of you. Such as being said, you may even get a rank among the highest. Whether you will accept that, however, is the question I have laid out for you. Just exactly how smart _are _you?_

"Not very much. I am a mere Warrior among Warriors."

_Your potential disagrees. Your status clearly materializes that you are much stronger than the rest. Given some years to fully adapt to the highest of your virtuosity, I see that you being as strong as Number 6, time might just reveal. It all… sort of depends on how well you can maintain countenance._

"Have I not tolerated well for your likeliness, Matriarch?"

_You'd better watch your attitude towards me, disciple! I strongly recommend you should not dare cometh forward with a wasteful remark, or my claws through you they shall very likely be. You, Warrior that Disobeys, have proved yourself exemplary enough to receive a name. From this moment and beyond, your name shall be Revenge Unleashed. Are you worthy to accept your chosen name?_

I nodded. "Of course."

_Good. I have discussed with you enough. Unless you have any further to divulge, I suggest kindly to step forth from here and get out. Be eulogized that you managed to obtain an audience with me, forever much obstacles you have overcome in your rather meek and brief existence, and that you still have yet to counter._

Flicking my tail, I added, "There actually is something is something else I have to say. The humans are on their way. They're camping behind the brush inside our borders."

_You figured this out how?_

"I was talking a walk. I noticed their camp as I was strolling along. Why?"

_Hmm… Perhaps you will become one with my Elite. It just sort of is debated on this question and this question only, Revenge Unleashed, the Warrior that Disobeys... how long can you abide?_

* * *

I got to my paws, shaking off the dreariness of sleep from off my shoulders. I remembered her words from several weeks ago. _"How long can you abide?" _And that question was also mine. How long could I last, in this sea of gray?

The rush was happening again. This time, to flush out the Marines for good. We suffered several defeats and were victorious numerous amounts of times, but this was freaking stupid.

I mean, really stupid.

Barb and Victory were preparing for the rush, stretching out their wiry limbs and lashing out to get warmed up. Victory and I were far away from each other, as far away as we could muster. As long as I didn't have to smell her reek, her funk, I would be fine. And she thought the exact same things about me. It wasn't like I cared, she can stay far from my sight. It didn't really matter to me anymore. Although, it was annoying.

My wounds were healed, thankfully, after the hours and days of endlessly awaiting for that moment. Being five weeks old, a month-old Xenomorph, I was much more experienced, but I really didn't consider myself old or anything. I mean, Mercy Claws was now pretty old and stuff, hanging out with Anger all the time.

For the meantime, I had refrained from any heroic conquests, but my previous victories were still lingering over me. I was still the talk of the month, for the Xenomorph horde. I would forever be, probably. I was still treated like some kind of hero that rose up from the mist. I can assure you I'm not, but everyone is convinced I'm some kind of angel spirit that came down to help them. Please, I'm through with all this.

As I was lost in my thoughts, I hardly noticed the worm-ling that slammed into me, excited getting ready for his first rush, probably. Claws scraped my chin, and I stumbled back, alarmed, looking around wildly, and probably looking like the big idiot who wasn't aware.

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

I looked down, recollecting consciousness. "Oh, hello there." I waved my tail. "Who're you?"

"Ah, I don't have a name yet. Y-you're that legendary Xenomorph, aren't you? The one that everyone's talking about?" He shuffled, embarrassed. "Shoot… out of all the Aliens I ran into…"

Smiling, I mustered my friendliest look, and meant it. This was a really funny worm-ling! He was so clumsy! "Hey, chill out. Why are you being so frisky anyway? You must be running for some reason. Are you getting ready for the rush?"

The worm-ling looked down at his paws. "Not exactly. I was told I couldn't go because I only chestbursted a couple of hours ago. I mean, I really wish I could have gone…"

I peered down at him. "Don't be worried about it. You'll get your first chance soon enough. Are you're pretty fast too! You're one of a kind, aren't you?"

The younger Xenomorph looked up at me, his tail waving. I found his youngster body amusing, in my opinion. He was so fierce, and so dedicated, not unlike me. His desolation upon the humans might not lack!

"I wouldn't say that or anything," he started. "And what about yourself? Don't you want to go on the rush? They're probably exciting."

Shrugging, I flicked my prehensile tail. "Eh, decided not to go this time."

"Oh." He drooped. "I think I'd go on every brawl and rush I could get into! Show those pests what I've really got in me!" He lashed out with his claws. His deadly tail penetrated nearby objects. I laughed.

"I'm sure you would," I mentioned. "Say, you want to go talk a walk together outside? I can show you what I've got, if you want. You can practice with me."

The worm-ling dropped on the ground, rolled, and did a rather impressive claw frenzy mid-air. "Sure! I'd love to train with a legend."

The urge to sink my claws in the ground was a big itch, but I overrode the want to, and beckoned him forward with my tail. "Come on!" I challenged. "Race you!" I took off full-sprint, glancing behind me, and when I expected him to be far behind me, like Barb, I could see him close on my tail, legs flying beneath him.

_Huh. What an interesting youth. _

Together, we ran on and on, through the loft and straight outside. The woods tangled my legs and slapped branches on face, but I loved the breeze and freedom I was capable of, rippling my tail in a distant breeze. And the kid was still behind me, racing, not even panting in effort.

As we skidded to a stop in a clearing, I could see him all bright behind me. Those legs could run fast! I mean, I was faster and all, but that did not stop this speed-o to be fast! I looked at him, my tail's charming poise giving away my thoughts.

"You're sure fast. You'll be a nice chaser someday."

He beamed in pride at my comment, his tail lashing to-and-fro, his teeth bared in a devious snarl. "Well, you're faster. And stronger."

I, for one, also appreciated his compliment.

"Let's see if we can find any stray Marines around here." I tried with my nose, and since it has been weeks, I already knew that my senses were permanently washed away. As the scents came around, I felt like I was in an enclosed space, desperately pushing away at the walls because it felt like I could smell five feet away from me.

It freaking sucked.

"You try," I stammered reluctantly, knowing my sensing skills were about to be bested my a worm-ling. But I had nothing against him, he was very talented indeed! I admired his self-confidence and readiness for war, willing to step out into a fight whenever the time aroused itself. He was very strong and fast, too, and he'd impressed me for the short amount of time I knew him.

"Okay," he responded, lifting up his banana-shaped head to smell the air, inner jaw flicking in and out in a repeated process. Finally, he lowered it back down. "Three stray Marines, crossing the borders. Immediate action recommended."

_I wish I had that within my power._

Ha, I was no hero.

The worm-ling sniffed around, and I observed him carefully. "You're good. You know, can I tell you a secret?" I asked him, my deadly tail lashing as I made my way towards where he mentioned.

"Sure."

"My senses are bad, like really bad. I can't seem to smell for very long distances. I haven't told anyone that. Not even Barb."

"Oh him. Why did you tell me?"

I snorted at him and flicked my long, swoopy tail. "Because you seem like a pretty good Xenomorph so far. You sure are talented. That's why." I smiled at him.

If we could, I'm sure that Xenomorph would have blushed, right then and there. But we can't, blushing is for the Yautja. And we aren't Yautja. That was the last thing I wanted to be called. Those slimy, smelly, beasts that though destroying us with a "Plasma Caster" was fun. Sheesh.

"Well, that's really nice of you and all," he started, his tail flicking in his approval that he had been called talented by this so-called legend. I wouldn't dare say that. It's why I said "so-called."

As we made our way through the undergrowth, we strayed onto closed-in fields and bushes, made sure trees had plenty of foliage to protect ourselves with, and that this whole area in general was a good place to hunt down these Marines obnoxiously raiding right into our base. Those humans and their sense of smell I swear. Can't smell something two feet away! Like, geez.

The place was damp and clean and it was nice, the scents of the world betraying the humanity here. My claws liked to fix themselves in the ground below me. I could balance fairly easily along trees or other sorts of brush things that offered a foothold. The lean branches shimmered underneath my heftier weight, but for the worm-ling he was like a distant feather. Like a feather that had come from the sky bearing enough power to fight a bear. I had no clue what that was or anything, but I didn't care.

As we found the humans settling along the border, I wanted to do some showing-off. I was going to try to make him impressed with me, instead of me constantly being impressed with him. He would sit there and stare at my awesomeness, instead of me mooning over some kind of worm-ling that chestbursted _several hours ago. _

I snuck up on my enemy, keeping to the shadows and making sure my prehensile tail did not disturb any branches or sticks that may alarm the humans of my presence. I could feel the worm-ling's stare over my shoulder, and I paid him no heed for now, but I was to make sure that this kill would be one to remember. A kill that no one forget, despite the times of day or the mood everyone was is. Let's see if that will work.

I dropped to a crouch and padded forward real slow, my gaze searching and sniffing out the tracks of the humans. One of my fore-claws fell into the soft soil pressed down by one of them, and I sniffed it edgily before continuing. There were three. I could take care of all three on my own, could I not? Over these past few weeks, I was gathering as much experience as I could muster, capable of the deaths of five humans if I really set my mind to do so.

They seemed to have no idea I was coming.

Good, that's what I needed.

Slipping between a couple of bushes, I poked out my head and turned to see that special worm-ling observing my actions from his spectating point in a tree. Well, that means that I was keeping his attention.

Returning my clear gaze to the humans, I followed them out of the bush, now exposed in the daylight. I knew that I must be nearly unnoticed there, by how swiftly and silently I trekked, only moving when I had to. My eyes were narrowed in a nay form of apprehension, but more of a thrill of the kill. That's what Barb told me, five weeks ago.

And I knew that his words were always true, because every single time I speared an opponent with my tail and tossed them to the ground, or bit into their heads with a killing head-bite, I always had this rush inside of me telling me to keep on killing.

No, I'm not saying I have feral instincts that tell me to kill.

It's… not like that.

I was pretty well hidden, I soon realized. I crept on and on, until finally, I took my chance. One of the humans had stopped to part some leaves nearby because he believed he detected some sort of movement there. I sure as freak knew there was nothing there because my senses, although damp, were far more exemplary than his. Humans and their noses, I have to bring up again.

No, I do not want to start an argument with you.

I was simply stating my opinion.

Slinking as I was, I waited for them to completely part those leaves before taking my chance to strike. As they kneeled over to explore what they "thought" they say, I neared the one furthest from the group and walked behind him, my tail moving in silent waves behind me. I grabbed one of his shoulders and wrapped a hand around his neck and mouth, to keep him quiet. I jerked back on his head and he broke off all of a sudden.

He gagged for a minute and fell limp. Suddenly, my next action was swift. I raced to the next person and grabbed him. He looked around, startled for a minute, as I used my inner jaw to pop off his head. He let out a desolate wail – but it was never finished, or even started. He was dead as soon as my jaw smacked against his head.

He fell limp, and soon only the Marine parting leaves was left over. He felt a thump behind him and he looked up, seeing two bodies but not me.

I had taken evasive action as swiftly and effectively as possible. I had dispersed into the wildlife from taking a move to a tree directly above the adverse. It was deadly still and silent, before the Marine let out a voice.

"Hello? Greg? Johnson?"

Silence embraced his words. Encumbrance being fear, the Marine backed up a few feet before he was soon pressed against the tree. His breathing was heavy as he finally spotted the two dead Marines lain askew on the ground before him. He pointed his gun at the bodies and let out a cry.

"W-w-what killed him?" begged the Marine, looking at the very first body. Then his gaze flitted to the second. "What killed him? What killed them?"

One body lying there with a slit throat, the next one with a gigantic hole right in his head. I was trying my best not to give off quivering laughs. This was just too freaking hilarious. Finally, I did my best to rush in for the kill. Dropping to the ground, I landed right in front of the scared Marine. His eyes peered at me, alarmed and afraid all in one blink. I could smell it coming off of him, his gun trembling as he thought for a way out of here. But there was none. He was going to die here just like the others.

"Stay away from me, bitch!" shouted the Marine, blasting his "Pulse Rifle" in all directions. I dodged and blocked them all. He ran at me with his clammy fist exposed, but I put up both of my arms to block it. His attack was pushed off, and I lifted up my tail for a heavy slash.

The blade cut jaggedly across his cheek, and he gagged, staggering backwards to get a feel of the blood that now made trickles down his face. But he'd been thrown backwards, landing with a thump in the dirt. It clouded around him in sparks and waves, and I tried hard again not to laugh.

"Get back, bitch, get back!" he threatened me, his gun now poised at me. I simply grabbed him by his arm and pulled him forward, posing my tail for another kind of attack. He noticed the sudden movement and tried to get his gun to an aiming position, but I swatted it from his grasp and it fell aside with a clatter. Apprehensive, he took a couple of steps back, but I yanked him forward and put him right through the tail blade.

Blood, vomit, sweat. All poured out as he gagged, wanting freedom and life, but he would never see it again.

I disposed his body on the compact earth and turned to look at the worm-ling still perched curiously in the tree high above us.

His gaze was glittering in awe.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "That was incredible, how'd you do that?"

He was racing down from the tree, his claws barely skidding it he was in such a hurry to face me. I could only smirk at the youngster, for I did admire him. And I sure did hope he admired me. But from the look in his eyes, I was assured I had completed my goal with ease.

"Just takes practice, kiddo," I warned him, getting up on my hind legs as all professionally-balanced Xenomorphs do. "You'll be just like me one day. You'll do great things, well actually great things-"

He was staring at me with his jaws exposed wide open. "Actually good things?" he choked. "The things you do are great! Not every chestburster is a legend, you know!"

I stopped a few paces short and peered at him closely. "I'm not a legend, kid. I just have a differing point of view. Make sense?"

He clawed in confusion at the soil beneath him. "Well, not really," he admitted, not drily, but his voice flooded with warmth. "I guess I'm just not quite yet old enough to understand." He sighed, letting his tail dangle beside him. "You know, I'm sure I'll get your point one day, I'm sure I will. I think I just need to understand some more things first. You know?"

All I could do was nod at him. "Of course I do, kiddo. Now come on, I'd better get you back to the Hive."

"What? You said we could practice together! You didn't lie, did you?"

I could hear that squeak in his voice. _This is the first Xenomorph that actually accepts being in my presence that's not afraid of me… should I push him away?_

"No, I didn't," I shorted off, hoping I didn't sound as defensive as I felt. "Here, I'll show you a cool place. Follow me."

"Okay," he retorted, bounded up beside me and nearly matching my own pace.

I led the kid through a clump of trees surrounding this place. It was a nice place with a lot of shade. I stumbled across the place I had watered myself with Barb. The water was still untouched by humanity, but that would not last forever. One day, this water would be smeared the color of bloody mud. I hated that color.

I hate brown things.

"Get a drink of that," I offered. "Get some filler-up before we head on."

The worm-ling peered into the water for a moment. "I've never had fresh water before," he stated. "Just had that stuff they offer to us in leaves and bundles." He placed his fore-claws before the water's edge and lapped up a few delicious drops before he turned to look at me, his gaze bright and flooding with happiness.

"It takes great!"

"Good!" I cheered him, leaning down beside him to get my own fill of the water as well. It felt good, cool against my already-cold organs as it sloshed around on the inside. It felt like this place was changing dramatically, and that every spare drop of clean water you could get could never be wasted.

I bothered little to tell any Xenomorphs about this water spot, it was kind of my own private thing.

I hate to be a hog or anything but this was one of the last puddles of water – well, that was actually water – and I didn't need a bunch of Xenomorphs swarming around daily to get a couple dribbles. I liked this location a ton and didn't need any sticklers poking their heads in with big, goofy grins.

After the worm-ling had taken his fill, he shook of some dust and water from his cute little snout. I giggled as he tossed some at me.

"Hey," I shot at him, not unkindly. "Watch what you're doing with that! I hate water!"

Bounding to my petite, long legs, I catapulted over the clearing and suffered a backflip over a tree branch, landing on it and curling my tail into a question mark shape. I peered down at him, all small and alone, sitting beside the stream.

I pitied his size and all, but dang.

His gaze, however, were filled with awe.

Apparently I had impressed him. I grinned at him as I did a fashionable landing off the tree. I landed on two legs, straight on the ground. I arced my tail again as I raced to meet him. His face was swarmed with a mix set of feelings. All I did was smirk.

"That was cool," he said, then lowered his gaze. "Er, sorry I flicked some water on you."

Snorting, I retorted right back at him, "That's fine, that's fine. I was only kidding. Don't take it so seriously."

He laughed and grinned at me with those teeth.

I grinned right back.

As soon as we had arrived at our destination, he was flooded in awe of the vast expanse of land he had been offered. It was a place I'd found a week ago when I was off exploring some caves. The place had been damp and offered a well-being, and I was proud I'd found it. It had some sand at the bottom of the pit, and it was beautiful. It did not reek of human mines, oil, and machinery, and it kind of smelled a bit like wonder to me.

Not many people get to smell wonder.

The waterfall ended right at the precipice, and the humans were far, far away. The place was shadowed with trees and other things, bushed with forests of shrubs and plants. Pretty pink tendrils protruded up from them ground, sprouting flowers and buds and giving this area a beautiful kink. I think this little Xenomorph really deserved to look at this place. It kept me away from all my problems, my renowned infamy, Number 6, and Victory.

It was great there, especially at night. And since the sun was already gone over the horizon, and two moons shimmered on the bright surface of the water. I was glad that I was bringing him at night, it really brought out the view of the scenery.

So hidden away, thus deep in the world it was. I could see the nice landscaped cliffs and stones of the world I had ventured towards only a couple of days ago. I've liked this spot too, since it had a pool of water as well, but it was not sweet from the nearby trees and fragrant with grace. It was rushing with water because it led right to the waterfall that was beside the cool sandy cave I figured out.

As I turned to look at the bouncing worm-ling behind me, I could see his "eyes" scanning the tall, rocky cliffside, his face widening in his approval.

"So," I asked him. "You like it?"

After a few brief moments of observation, he turned and looked at me. "Yeah! It's awesome! I like it, I really do."

I dipped my head with approval. "Nice, nice. I found it out just last week, when I was exploring this place. I'm sure you've heard my story – since when has anyone not – and figured out I went on this mission to the Research Lab to find our kin. I suffered ordeal wounds, and although I wasn't ornery or anything, I wasn't exactly happy."

"Yeah, I've heard of that. It was so heroic and the way you…"

As his words continued and I drifted off, all I could think was...

Blah, blah, blah.

The way you always feel when you do something and everyone overestimates what you did. Yeah, it feels something tough for me right now. I mean, my efforts weren't entirely wasted or anything, those Aliens I saved came and said thanks to me, but that wasn't the point. I just had a different point of view, I wasn't an angel.

Wouldn't want to be, anyway.

I paused by the waterfall and gave each of my fore-claws a sniff-over. I had to or else they may crack and bleed.

I did not want them to crack and bleed.

The youngster was already finding places to explore, digging holes, looking under things, climbing and scaling trees fairly simple.

"You still want to train, right?" I breathed, attempting to sound tired like the walk here was that bad. "Whoosh. I'm out of shape." I flopped down on one side and pretended to pant, waving my tail.

"What?" he begged. "You're tired?" The worm-ling's searching gaze fixed on me cunningly. "No, you're not," he soon realized. "You're just joking."

I lifted my head. "Ah, you're pretty smart!"

He puffed up in pride of my compliment.

"Okay," I began, getting no-tiredly to my feet and approached my new friend. "I will show you defense-"

He glared at me. "No offense? Really?"

I clamped down my growl. "There will be offense, but protecting yourself is far more effective, sheesh. And besides, instinct knows you a good deal of offense moves and maneuvers. You should be fine, for the most part."

"Okay." He brightened up.

Getting to my hind legs, I placed both of my hands across my chest in a block position. "This is a block," I informed him. "This is effective when fighting Predators and humans. When they try to swiftly stun you, this will take place. Try to hit me."

As I looked at him more closely for his sudden reluctance, I realized the prolonged issue.

_You're not going to hurt me, kiddo._

Finally, after what only seemed like an age and a half, he leapt at me, preforming a perfect leap attack I was not ready for. But blocks to that are just as effective – he bounced right off my arms and landed in a collapse against the soil. He let out a screech as he landed, but I could tell it was not a pained screech.

If it was, I would have stopped right then and there.

"Hey! That does work!" He looked up at me. "Do you mind if I give it a go?" he questioned, his tail whisking to-and-fro. As he spoke, his arms lifted up in a defense position. "I think I've got the move covered!"

I waited for him to lift up his arms, a second time, and when he did, I dashed forward and lashed out. My attack was harmlessly wheeled backwards, and I fell flat in the mud.

Laughing, I looked at him. "Good work, kiddo!"

He grinned at me.

* * *

The Refinery was fairly empty, for the most part. It was ice cold in there, however. The young kid looked up at me.

"What did you say your name was again?" he asked me, as I turned the corner to my sleeping chamber.

"Ah, Revenge Unleashed. Now go to sleep, you've seen enough training and fighting today."

As my kid abandoned my presence, I could still see the slim shape of Barb, awaiting me to tell me the news on the rush.

"So, how'd it go?" I asked, beginning to scale the wall to my sleeping chamber.

The glare of Barb was cold behind me. "Good. So, who's he?"

_Odd. What does he want to know about the worm-ling?_

"Oh, he's just a worm-ling I was hanging out with. I showed him some moves, some cool places… I mean, he liked the trip. And I think he liked hanging out with me. I think he was pretty cute!" I giggled.

Barb did not seem the least bit amused. "Funny. You're not one to hang with worm-lings."

I peered at him. "I didn't have anything else to do, or anything."

At the silence, I pressed on, "What do you care, anyway? He wasn't doing anything to you, he never said anything bad or did anything bad to me! Why are you so worried about him? What has he to do with your life?"

Barb shrugged, his expression forcefully fading out. "Nothing. Just wondering."

Whisking my tail, I demanded, "So. The rush. With Victory. Tell me about it." After my brief pauses, I was finally curled up inside of my nesting chamber and was looking at him interestedly, curious as to how the rush had been performed.

"Eh," he snorted. "We kind of rushed them out all nice and quick and stuff like that. I agree you would have liked to participate. We had fun, killing all those guys. Why did you stay behind today?"

Curling my claws, I agreed, "I just wasn't feeling up to it. Is that okay with you, _Barb?"_

He winced at the misuse of his name, before he gave up with a sigh. "Yes, it is. Now, I'll join you for bed, I'm pretty tired. See you tomorrow, I guess." He slunk away into his nest that he had placed next to mine after his old one got too old.

Finally feeling relaxation and warmth, I heard a scuffle beneath me. It was very tiny, and I was sure I was dreaming, but I can't remember being asleep for that long. I spread out my senses all over the place and thought I could smell movement in the walls outside.

I jumped out of my nest and sniffed again. It was the same scent, not unfamiliar or anything, but no from anyone in here. I slid out through the loft through to the front gates and looked around. It seemed pretty clear in here. But I knew that a Xenomorph's senses were never wrong. Well, maybe except for mine. I sniffed in again.

The scent was stronger. Through these doors, I noticed. I knew that my senses for one were not failing me. Knowing that I was swift and strong again and that I could run a long time again before I could be tired, I felt a warm draft ahead of me that pushed me back, but I just dashed through it with ease. I had no idea with what this detection was, but it intrigued me. What possibly could it be? I had only one way to find out what it was.

Continue looking.

As the longer I trekked along, the closer the scent got. Whoever was slinking around here must've thought they were pretty sneaky! I wanted to laugh at their attempts, whoever this was. They were not in any way sneaky, and the tracks to find them were almost clearly visible in the cold tracks.

The land was soon paved to open marsh and forest. This was the outside again, bathed in swabs of light, but not the sun's light, but the moons' light. I looked at the sky and found those things hanging above me, guiding me.

The tracks turned into a narrow alley and straight through the old forest I had crossed when going to the Research Lab. If that was where this person was headed, they had a long walk ahead of them. I tread on and on, making sure I was well gouged beneath stones and sticks. I was also determined to see who this way, making an obvious trail to their intended destination.

Continue following.

As the land was paved to rough desert underfoot, for the land here changed metamorphically, constantly, and the tough skin on my feet was pressured once more. This person was looking like they were heading to the Research Lab. But if they were, why? It not against the rules to leave behind the Hive at night but, why?

The only answer was to keep following. Soon, if I got a decent angle, I would be able to navigate my way through these foothills and seen this person better. However, they were moving in a reckless hurry, making things such as scales rub on rocks, sticks get snapped, and trees got disturbed. I could not snort in their clumsiness. It was really rather quite funny.

I sniffed again, maybe my senses would boot on suddenly, and my prey could get caught. But no, I could not, for my senses were just bust like that, and the whole world sucked for me. I had problems and issues, and they were big, dangerous claws in the face. It was like the whole world was against me. Even Barb was acting strangely. I don't know why, it was all peculiar.

I stopped sort at the top of a hill to observe my clearing. As I saw them, however, I don't know how badly I would be scarred.

My prey was Number 6.

And she was heading to the Research Lab.

Setting up my gut, I decided to take the risk to following, soon enough blending in to the distant night.


	4. Chapter 4

The sounds of heavy paw prints ahead of me made me press my back and slimy hide into the rock. If I was caught in here, I was dead meat. Another excuse for the Number 6 to kill me. If I was detected, I was dead on the spot.

All the wildlife was neither with nor against me – their endless cries screeched at me when I sauntered by, and I had to make sure that they did not blow my cover. Number 6 was a while ahead of me, but I did not doubt the fact that her senses were far sharper than my own. She would smell me before I could do the same to her. So, just to be safe, I pressed back far further than I thought I should, with risk of losing my target.

The moonlight that glistened overhead felt good against my smooth skin, and I let it flow over the shiny black film. But I knew little time could be used to conjure myself if the moon. I had a task to get on to. I was not going to let Number 6 escape. If she did end out escaping, I would not be very happy. I had to ensure that I figured out the reason as to why she was coming.

Scurrying across the rocks that stretched out around me, I hooked my fore-claws on some handholds ahead. Pressing my back as flat as it could against the moon-bathed stones, I made sure I could not be seen, even by Number 6's adaptable "eyesight."

How long exactly I had spent hindering under the moon's full glare, I wasn't sure, but I knew now I had to keep on my way. So I stopped hiding myself behind the bush that protected me and I continued on my path. Number 6's prehensile tail was slinking through the undergrowth, I could now "see." Her sleek head lifted up to detect something in the air, then she just growled, thinking she was safe, and moved right back on her own trail, keeping to a straightforward path carved in the reeds.

The glistening doors of the Research Lab were getting pretty visible, even to my foul senses. But whether Number 6 was approaching to spy, or whatever, I wasn't sure. I just ducked behind some more cover and watched her.

Casting rays of the moonshine yet again invited me to its depths, and as tempted as I was to just pick a rock to spread out on, I made sure I was clear in which direction I needed to go. Although the destination Number 6 was trying to go to was pretty obvious, I did not feel the need to rush ahead and just get myself noticed. No, I was going to be clever on this mission, and relatively sneaky.

At least, I thought I was sneaky.

Tell me otherwise, and I'll rip off your head. Wait, actually… sorry. I won't do that. Tell me the truth, whatever you think. I won't mind. Just try not to be too harsh.

So, the grass provided me whatever seldom cover I was forever grateful for. Even the slightest bit of prevalence was good enough for me. And to be sure I was not caught and hunted down by the angry, fuming Number 6 that was just perfect. In fact, more than what I could ever had asked for. And to be, for one, I could say that I was somewhat pleased with my cover. It was… pitch perfect.

Ducking my head, I made myself into a position that had my legs furled into an uncomfortable form, but other than that slight flaw this was a good spot. Finally, Number 6 approached the walls of the massive structure and paused right at the entrance.

No, she did not just walk in with her head and tail held high. I observed her as she made a gap in the wall with her jutting tail-blade, and slither in. The last thing I saw from her slender form was her sleek tail as she crept in, her paws making scores in the metal as she made on her way. I was still curious as to why she had any business involving a human structure… or well, an Android structure, but the only thing that mattered now was to ensure that she left soon.

As the night dwindled on, I pressed myself against the wall of the building and filed in after the sneaky Xenomorph female. The old, lingering scent of her was still amid in the tight corridors, and following the Alien was a bit on an issue, due to my old sense problems, but for the most part I stayed fairly well on her trail, keeping low to the shadows and ensuring my hidden ego remained the same.

On this vacant structure, I could still see the shimmering metal walls, and the vent that I was not in – I could compare it to my first trip here, when I had not found an entry through a vent but rather the wall. But, as I could say, I was never detected inside a wall, and thus I was safe and hidden away from the world. And apparently, Number 6 was thinking the same thing. But what she was going here was beyond my own thoughts. If she was here on some sort of secret mission by the Queen, if she was studying the object, I wasn't sure. All I was aware of was, however, the fact that no one else besides me knew she was out here, doing her own things.

But as far as I could see, her intentions were, in fact, to be hidden and sneaky. It made me wonder even further as to why she was here. Why I could not find her in her tracks. But if I was caught… I can only imagine the worst fate I could get. Number 6 cracking my throat open with her tail, since no one was there, she could just do whatever the heck she wanted to do.

However, as I continued on my trail, I noticed the Xenomorph's path less and less. Until finally, it was gone altogether. The desperation and fear that clouded in my head was enough to drive me mad.

And, that was it. I had lost the path Number 6 was taking. She was gone, creeping further ahead on her trail, and I stuck here, having to turn around since I failed in my conquest. This life just kept on getting better and better. And I was starting to get really bugged. So bad, in fact, I put my cylinder head in between my paws and sat there for minutes on end, wondering and thinking for my next move.

Finally, I came to the conclusion telling me to return to my Hive. And so, with that, I turned and limped out of the Research Lab's wall and made my way to the Horde's Refinery in a trot. Luckily, I could get there before sun-up and not get noticed, but if my absence was known… I was screwed. Number 6 would certainly know, someone like Victory would tell her about my unnoticed tardiness. And besides, the Matriarch would not take kindly to that either. We could go outside yes, but not anywhere too far outside of our territory. Like the Research Lab, for instance.

The rusted walls of the Refinery finally came back to me. My little room, the circular structure in the wall with the green film dripping off of it, was still tidy. Using my defensive fore-claws and lean build, I loped into the hole and curled up tight into a ball. And with that, I let out the faintest sigh.

Through all of this, it had been hard. My tail whisked impatiently to-and-fro, my forepaws clutching my head as I writhed in agony, searching for an answer, for escape. But I knew, the strongest Xenomorphs fought through their worst fears and cautions. If I wanted not to get teased by Victory and her group of companions, I would have to face the worst as well. It was just all starting to get confusing to me. It all seemed as though everything was going by my head too quickly. The slender dome-shaped surface could not process thoughts without our Queen here, but we were certainly smart enough to notify the fact that things can get hard for a Xenomorph, as well.

And with those final thoughts, I curled up to get a long night of peace and rest.

* * *

Morning air wafted fresh across my face. It was another night of dreamless sleep. Slinking out of my den, which was cool and metallic, I stretched out my limbs and rolled my slim shoulders. Wind and breezes from the inside must have been strong, if I could smell them from deep inside the Refinery.

I was fresh out of luck. As I returned to the fresh-kill pile for a leg of human or for a bit of liver, a Xenomorph I had never seen before was crouched over and eating the remains. Lowering my growl, I just stalked away from it. I could go out to find and hunt some human remains later. It wasn't like we ate anything else on this planet. Xenomorphs had a strict diet of human. Without their sustainable meat, we would die.

I stretched out the membrane guarding my inner jaw and sighed, flicking my fore-claws. The sunny day shine filtered in through holes in the rooftop of the Refinery, although those were rather seldom.

As I steered clear from the exact center of the pavilion, filled with chattering, hissing, snarling Xenomorphs, I noticed another Xenomorph I had never seen before. He had long legs, a slender tail, and a deep-shaped Dome head. A Domed Warrior. I tilted my head as he approached.

"Greetings, Revenge," he growled, his voice rather deep and scratchy.

I paused for a moment. "Hey… do I know you?"

He gaze lowered for a moment, and he seemed ashamed. I was curious, because I did not know him. Was this one of Barb's friends I had met a while back? I didn't recall, they had been just Danger Withheld and Toxin Override. No one important. And I didn't believe any of them were this… handsome either.

Before you get ideas, I did not have a crush on this Xenomorph, I just thought he didn't look bad.

"I'm the worm-ling you trained with yesterday," he said, tail drooping as he lashed it side-to-side. "How can you not remember my scent?"

Realization took over me like a cloud. "Oh, you! I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't even notice. I have a bad scenting issue, remember? And you look a lot different than you used to… a lot… more like an actual Xenomorph. Your legs got longer and stronger, your tail thicker and longer as well… I'm sorry."

The now-older Xenomorph laughed. "That's okay, it is," he said. "I can't say you look too different, however. Xenomorphs don't get that much vibrancy, do they?"

I shook my head. "Nor difference," I agreed. "But now that you're older, at least you can partake in raids and sieges, and can fight, just like you said you wanted to." I grinned at him, lashing out my tail and flailing my inner jaw. "We can fight side-by-side, if you really think we can handle it."

Immediately, he brightened. "That would be so cool," he offered. "When do you think the next rush will take place?"

Shuffling on my feet, I grumbled, "Impossible to say. They just happen whenever. The Matriarch kind of calls us to get ready for the battle party, and then we go. It's never really planned, it just happens, sort of. So whatever have you been spending your day with, so far?"

"Oh. The first thing I did was say hello to you. I saw you and at first, thought you didn't even recognize me. That would have been so sad." He lowered his gaze to the ground before him.

"Don't stress about it," I chided. "Why don't you go hunt with Mercy Claws and Anger? There's something I sort of want to do right now."

The Xenomorph I had met only yesterday but accepted as friend only nodded and backed out of the area to where the patrol was being sent up. "Sure thing!" he offered. "I'll make sure I catch you something big!" And with that, the large Xenomorph bounded away.

As I returned to my previous duty, I could see all the other Xenomorphs getting ready to either hunt, scout, or defend some eggs somewhere in the territory. I wrapped my tail around my paws and rested my head down between them, laying beneath a beautiful patch of darkness that greatly complimented my shiny black film exoskeleton.

"Huh."

Although I had no eyes, I looked up to see Victory sitting on a ledge before me, her tail hanging limply aside her. Her graceful form, with deep curves and slender arcs, sat like a stalactite on the metallic beam. I wondered quickly what she was doing there, and from her previous comment, I knew she was trying to obtain my attention. Crossly lifting my head, I curled one of the sides of my lips, a bit of frothy drool dripping from my silver teeth.

"What do you want, Victory?"

The older Alien flicked the tip of her tail. "I just came to notify you that we found your tracks beside the border. I was on a patrol with Scarlet Blade and Defy Meaning and we detected your scent along the edge of the territory. Yes, Revenge. Yours."

Getting a bit interested, I sat up so I was now facing the far more beautiful Xenomorph. "And?" I questioned, demanding an answer. "That was only from yesterday when I went out to hunt."

Victory bared her fanged teeth. "Do not lie to me, Warrior!" she growled. "The trail took you straight to the Research Lab!"

There was no way I was going to tell her about Number 6 and her trail to the Research Lab, whatever she had been doing there. "I wasn't hunting at the Research Lab, though. I only went there to make sure no more human settlements were underway. So you and the rest of your patrol can continue with your searching party…"

The curled claws of Victory's fore-hands buried themselves into the metal arch she perched on, the saliva dripping from her teeth splattering all over the floor and ending up in mangled heaps. "I didn't ask you what you were doing!" she snarled, her Domed head showing her fury, her tail lashing out at anything she could reach. "And since the defense patrol is over, I will not be returning to the outdoors, thank you very much." Seething, Victory just looked as though she were trying to remain calm.

"Why are you always talking to me like I ran over your fresh-kill like a clumsy worm-ling? I didn't, and never will, do anything to you. Why can't I have some peace without you breathing right down on my neck?"

Victory's claws curled dangerously around the metal beam, and her lips curled back in a vicious snarl, her breathing letting off puffy white clouds into the atmosphere. "I consulted Barb. He doesn't like you, but… but make sure that kind of thing doesn't happen. I will try as hard as I can to ensure Barb spends as less time with you as possible."

I let out my own faint snarl. "Since when was this about Barb? All I'm ever asking for is a bit of peace and quiet-"

Another voice interrupted my sentence to Victory. "What's this?"

Turning my original Warrior head, I could see something standing there. He was very handsome; long, muscular legs, a strong pair of fore-claws, a slim frame. I could only tell who it was by their two flaws, their severed tail and the grid-shaped pattern across his Dome head.

"Nethead?" rasped Victory, clutching tighter to her perch. "Whatever are you doing here?"

The handsome Warrior waved his paw for Victory to back down. "Unnecessary, Victory. I just came here to implement you two. It seems to me and the Matriarch that you two have been fighting since birth, have you not?"

I spoke up this time. "I was two days old," I clarified, ducking my head.

Nethead's glare focused on me, but I could detect a warmth from him that wasn't on Number 6. He cared about this horde, not unlike me. I found myself already liking this Dome Warrior, and I just met him, better than the Praetorian. He was understanding, he was handsome, he had a nice, raspy voice, and his severed tail gave him a worn-down appearance. Then I realized this was the first time I had ever seen Nethead, or well, "Grid," seen in full detail.

"Please," Victory snarled, her voice full of contempt. "We know."

A claw lashed across her snout, making her wheedle back in terror. Claws scrambling at the holds in the metal, I tried to hold back my laugh as I noticed Victory just clutching the metal beam she sat on top of, her tail streaming behind her. Once she saw my face, her lips curled into a snarl, and she dropped off of the post, her dorsal tubes spiking in fury.

Clutching the side of her face, Victory pestered Nethead, "What was that for?"

"Well, it was in the past, so it doesn't matter," Nethead said, dipping his head, not in respect or anything, just a modest head dip.

Still carefully patting her head, the female Xenomorph spat, "It still hurts, though."

The handsome Warrior Dome curled his tail. "The past does hurt sometimes. But you can either run from it, or learn from it."

Victory tilted her head, but I knew from her face she kind of understood what he meant. Nethead then turned to face me, after he was done confronting Victory, who was now making herself steady on the beam below her.

"I think," Nethead offered with a wave of his slender tail, "that you two should get some time to spend together, in my opinion."

Victory nearly fell off the beam she was still clinging to with her claws and tail. "Spend time with her?" she spat. "That little Face-hugger will just try to show off all her moves. Tell me how to save the Hive, the time need be."

The snarl Nethead emitted from his chest was deep and growly. "Listen, Victory. I didn't mean battle-train together, or taking a hike in the woods outside the Refinery. I meant devise a plan and hunt together." Turning his gaze to me again, he offered, "And at least you don't complain about it either."

I felt a bit better at his compliment, but Victory seethed and lashed her tail.

"Fine, whatever. Come on, Revenge Unleashed, let's go." She hopped off the beam and started making her way to the entrance of the Refinery.

Nethead grinned at me, the feral growl in his chest dismissed. "Go on after her then," he warned, his glare on me, tail lashing in response. "And make sure she doesn't cause any problems. She's always been a dry bone in the bone pile."

I jumped off the post I had relaxed on and made my way after the beautiful Xenomorph. I turned around to face Nethead one last time, and I dipped my head. "I won't," I promised. "She won't be causing any more trouble to this place. At least, I wonder if I'm the only one she taunts."

"No," Nethead said, wrapping his tail around his paws. "She just gets over it after a week or so. It's been several weeks for you."

"She must hate me," I concluded, shuffling on my paws.

"Grid" laughed. "Just give her some time," he growled. "She'll accept you presence."

Scoffing, I scraped some blood off the metal before me. "I wonder how long that'll take."

The rather small Alien shrugged his hefty shoulders. "However long she decides to, I suppose. I think it's because you don't understand one another. Perhaps a hunt side-by-side should support the alleviation of your disturbances." Nethead just sighed after that. "Go one, then. Bring us back something we can eat off of for weeks."

After that, the Alien just watched me go. I bounded away from the clearing and stumbled to a halt besides an angry Victory, who was just glaring at me. Finally she emitted a giving-up sigh.

"You lead or do you want me to do it?" she spat, attempting to suppress her annoyed tone.

A soft growl rose in my throat. "You can do it," I hissed, clawing at the ground, trying to also relax my own snarling voice. "If I did it anyway, I'd still get your attitude."

Victory's tail flicked to-and-fro briefly, before she curled up her lip and bared her metallic silver teeth at me. "Whatever," she offered. "Follow me."

I was actually surprised that she let me go off that easily, but I just whisked my tail and started off after her. Perhaps she was trying to make things better… that or she was just trying to make it look like that. For what I've known from Victory, she was probably trying the second option. That thought gave me that same urge to rip my claws down her face.

The two of us padded outside into the growing daylight shining overhead. The female Xenomorph ahead of me jumped onto a rock and lifted her head to sniff the air, before she looked back at me. "There's some this way. What do you smell?"

For a moment I sat there, stiff and cold. There was no way I was going to be able to fly to Victory, telling her about this issue.

Apparently I was sitting there too long because the Alien's face curled into a snarl and she tilted her head. "Well?" she spat, the long coil of her lumpy Xenomorph tail waving. "What do you smell?"

Still, her glare was on me. I lowered my head and mumbled, "The only thing I smell is the way you gestured."

Scoffing, the prettier Xenomorph bounded off her rock and made her way forward to the trees. Our claws scraped long scores in the earth, and I gave a faltering sigh. As she heard it, Victory turned around to look at me.

Growling, she spat, "What. Is. Your. Problem?"

I wheeled around to glare at her, my dorsal tubes trembling in rage. "Nothing!" I snarled. "Why can't we just hunt, like Nethead suggested? And keep your mouth shut, too."

Just then I realized that that was probably the wrong thing to say to such a bad-tempered Xenomorph. Her claws buried themselves in the ground as she stared at me, her lip curling, tail striking out a tree. Suddenly, she just turned and ran off, her long, coiled tail flying off after her.

"Wait!" I said. "Come back."

After a little chase, I met her on an outcropping. "Where are you going?"

What I noticed was Victory's supposedly-best tone, she said, "Hunting, like you said." But even as she spoke I could not mistake the hate, anger, and lust for death from her. The urge to lower my head in apology was overcome, because I too, hated this Xenomorph, but I did not want her to die. Nethead had been right – we just don't understand each other. And I would never be Victory's friend.

"Fine," I offered her. "Let's keep going."

So with that, we saw the truck.

It was packed with useless human supplies that means nothing to a Xenomorph. Fidgeting on the sandy stones, I demanded, "Which way do you want to go in?"

Victory's gaze followed the truck as it streamed by, letting long tire drags through the brush undergrowth. Leaves seemed to part out of the way as the truck moved on. Two Marines were sitting in the back of the truck, surveying the clearings they passed. Victory gave a final decision.

"We follow the truck until it gives a rest stop. Then we can attack the humans. From what I smell, there's at least seven of them in the truck. Let's go." Then I watched as her tail slinked off after the car packed with supplies and human scum,

Dropping to a crouch and making sure my head was low and my tail firm behind me, I crawled behind Victory as we made our way up the overhang. Although the car stank and it sucked to trail behind, it was particularly easy to follow due to that rank stench and the loud noises it was making and the slow pace in traveled at. Some human conversations were passed among the Marines if one was to listen hard enough, but most of them subsided after a few words.

From what I noticed, this patrol was trying to be sneaky.

Possibly from the constant Yautja threat, or so. Xenomorphs could hide from the Predators fairly well, unless they had the Xenomorph Vision some of the better Yautja had. Plasma Castors brought doom to a Hive, and bombs exploded many Queens and their families before. The fact that this was the destruction they could bring, they were valued as liable enemies and had to be eradicated as soon as possible.

Or, so they could not attract a Xenomorph horde. That wasn't working however, our senses were far sharper. We can hear, smell, but not see, the cars and trucks and patrols they brought through the dense woodlands. Despite my own senses, I knew I could smell this particular party of Marines as they troughed on. It was quite simple, and I wondered how this must be for every Xenomorph that smelled a human.

Victory paused at the top of the slope and crouched, gesturing for me to do the same. Pressing my belly and the top of my head against the smooth dirt, I asked her, "Do you think they'll stop soon?"

The only reply I received was her tail flick of acknowledgement of my presence coming around to her, but no telepathic words were spoken between us, neither a growl that notified a couple of words, either. She just continued to hinder behind anything that offered a Xenomorph cover, because our shiny black exoskeletons were simple to see in broad daylight. That was why the darkness was our ally. It helped us to find and kill humans without them managing to see us.

After about thirty minutes or so, the truck ran out of gas, I guess, because the Marine driving it jumped out and asked for a "Jerry Can" in the back.

Observing with my best sense, hearing, I could tell one of the Marines sitting bored in the back reached over for a plain red can and handed it down to the patiently waiting driver. With the "can" in his hands, he opened a lid to the side of the truck and started to apply the gasoline.

"So, when do you want to-?"

_Boom! _

The sound of a gun rattled in the distance, but it was not a very human gun. A saw a whitish-blue colored blast hurl itself straight at the humans and blow one of them to pieces. The one that was repairing the truck looked up when he heard the explosion. I smelled out with my senses, and I felt fear – caution – strike my heart when I heard the sound of Wrist Blades being unsheathed.

"Yautja!" It was the hiss of Victory, as she turned to flee. But I was mesmerized by the sight, so intrigued in this that I didn't even hear the female Xenomorph as she turned to escape from the scene in a mere moment.

Nearby, a Predator was uncloaking himself as he turned is masked gaze back on the humans. He let out a clicking noise as he lifted up his arm and opened a box on his wrist. He clicked a few things before putting it back down. His still-unsheathed Wrist Blades glistened in the dim sunlight that was starting to fade. Another shape uncloaked beside him. I scrambled up a nearby branch to listen to their conversation, although in their language it was.

"Celtic, eradicate the remaining opposition. Whilst in your hunt, I shall return to the ship. Notify me when it's over." The first uncloaked Predator re-cloaked himself and faded into the trees.

The Celtic Yautja cloaked as well. I heard the leaping of the Predator as he maneuvering expertly from tree-to-tree. I saw him reach on his back and pull out a Combi Stick. He lifted up his well-muscled arms to penetrate a nearby Marine. The human looked up, and the staff speared him right in his face, cracking out the other side of his head and getting permanently trapped against the rough bark of a tree.

The Yautja leapt again and retrieved his Combi Stick. Another Marine looked up at the sounds of disturbance, his fleeting gaze observing the clearing. "Uh, dude? I think something's out there."

The Marine putting in gas looked up. "I'm moving fast as I can, you know. I can't help when something decides to rush out of the trees."

"You're not the least bit scared?" I heard another Marine say. "Did you hear Bradley get killed?"

The driver looked up. "Bradley's dead?" He turned his gaze to see the head-speared Marine on the floor. "Ah! Bradley really is dead! Let's get the hell out of here!"

The two Marines exchanged the Jerry can and put it back where it previously was. The driver returned to the front seats of his car. As they started to drive, I was another patrol make their way up the hill. They had a car driving behind a bunch of walking Marines. The first car got exploded ahead of them as they tried to escape. But the second patrol had not heard the explosion because they kept walking on.

Suddenly, I felt a Combi Stick hit the ground before me, burying itself deep within the rough tree bark. Looking up, I could feel the weight of the branch shift as the Predator landed on the ground before me.

Claws met my side as Victory pushed me out of the way of dangerous Wrist Blades. The blades collided with the part of the tree I once occupied, and I sat there in a moment of fear, locked rigid as I stiffened in horror. Had Victory not been there at the time, I would be dead. I kept getting saved from my ultimate doom.

"I said to follow me!" Victory snarled. "Now let's get out of here! Run!"

Watching as the female Xenomorph belted into the trees, I easily kept up with her pace. I was too worried to look ahead of me, so I glanced backwards and could easy see the uncloaked Predator keeping up with us. Then we skirted the corner.

And crashed right into the first patrol of Marines!

"Get them! Xenomorphs!"

Clammy nets met with my shoulders and head as from tiredness and confusion I passed out on the floor of the jungle.

* * *

A cold body was pressed against me when I regained consciousness. A heavy tail was flopped over my side, practically pinning me against the floor. A slender form was breathing right beside me. I was enveloped in darkness. The land gave a bump, and the feeling of motion overcame me.

Then I realized that it was Victory's tail and frame leaning beside me. I threw off her tail, and she woke up in a hissing, snarling fit. She noticed me, and her lips curled in a Victory-like snarl.

"What is this place," she sneered. "What's going on?"

Another bump silenced the two of us as we rocked back and forth, reeking and squealing in heaps as we rocked on and on. Finally, the bumps stop, and I felt pain rise in my head as it crashed into a wall. I patted the spot where I'd been crunched, and I growled in a response to that.

"I think we're in that truck," I stated, regaining my footing and shaking off any weariness from myself.

"Oh, great!" Victory wailed, cracking her tail against the box that help us prisoner. "We're captives!"

"Calm down," I said, turning to observe my surroundings. "Let's see if we can get out of here." But as I scratched on some things, used my inner jaw, whacked with my tail, I realized that this place was not busting anytime soon.

"I guess we'll have to wait," Victory sheered, "eyes" scanning the clearing as she smashed her Dome head against the wall. "That's perfect, it really is. We don't we just sit her and completely waste time like this. The Hive will worry about us."

"The Hive!" I screeched. "They don't know about the Yautja! And the worm-ling I went hunting with is still out there. By the Matriarch, let him be all right!"

A state of depression overcame me as I flopped down, realizing that we were going to end up just like the Xenomorphs I had saved a month ago. And then I also noticed that the young male Xenomorph was trying to hunt for me. I scratched long claws in the ground and let out a single, deafening roar.

Victory ducked her head.

After my screech, I let my head down and twisted and turned in dangerous angles. I wanted freedom. I felt caged, sitting in here. Except this time, it wasn't a dream. It was real. And I was stuck with the worst possible Xenomorph in the world.

Victory glanced at me, her voice for once shaky. "A-are you alright?" she asked. "You seem p-pretty angry…"

I glanced her way, seeing her huddled against the wall with her tail wrapped around her body protectively. For once, I pitied her but she still was rank with hate and anger, and I knew, no matter what we did to Victory, no one could get that eternal darkness from her heart.

"I'm fine," I growled. "Just tired of the humans thinking they can do whatever they want to us." Snarling, I took a piece of the metal containing us, and Victory hissed cautiously.

After regaining her small trust in me, she demanded, "I understand that. Aren't we all? The humans think they just can destroy and piece anything, just if they think they can do it. They don't even realize that everything has a life and something they can protect. Just because they're humans, they can do whatever they want to, whenever they want it to happen."

Finding some sense in Victory's words, I just wrapped my own tail around myself and put a claw on the lumpy form, the ridges giving obstacles to my fused fingers. "I wonder if this Hive itself can just drive these stupid Marines off the planet and make sure they never come back."

Victory tilted her head at me. "The Yautja are still here, then. And we cannot live off of this planet's wildlife. We need the humans, or the Xenomorph Hive will just die out. And we can feed on Yautja, but how often do you find those?"

Sighing, I gave up. "Yeah, I guess," I stammered, curling and uncurling my claws. "Sometimes I just wish we could feed off of this planet's wildlife and not have to worry about eating humans all the time."

The beautiful female Xenomorph ahead of me just gave her shoulders a shrug. "That's just the way we were made, I suppose." Flicking her tail tip that was now not furled across her body in a protective position, she inferred, "And besides, we would never be able to clear out an entire Hive of humans all on our own. I mean, we can take a colony, but never an entire Hive. The Hive this time being Weyland-Yutani." She sighed and shook her head a bit.

"I know, I know," I hissed. "Let's focus on a way out, okay?"

Baring her teeth at me, Victory snarled, "Fine." She lashed her tail to-and-fro before she stalked to the other side of the metal containment unit and ran her claws across the top of it. But to no prevail, it still held tight.

I looked across the surface for any nicks, but I knew human synectics, they hardly made mistakes, especially the ones that built things. And no human made this metal carton, I knew that already. Sighing in defeat, I flopped down on the floor and put my head down as well, my freedom and my life taken from me.

Victory continued to ram her head into the side of the metal containment until before she, too gave up as well. She kept her distance as she curled up on the floor, and I tucked my tail a little closer to my body. I was not going to even think about being by that brat.

The female Xenomorph ahead of me scoffed when she noticed my attempts, before she simply replicated my actions, her tail now firmly across her paws and snout aside from her back legs and fore-claws.

We didn't get to sleep long before the car rolled to a stop. The reeking scent of human drifted beyond me for a moment, and I could tell Victory noticed the change as well. The two of us got to our feet and peered out through a breathing hole in the side of the cage, trying to smell our environment. Trees, plants, fruit, wildlife. I let out a sigh of relief. We weren't by a human settlement. Not yet, anyway.

One Marine slipped out of the front of the car, and from what I smelled I could smell deer meat. Something from Earth. Foreign food made me cringe in disgust. Especially since, from what I could smell, it was cooked.

Xenomorphs hate cooked/burned food.

The raw, meaty stuff was okay, though. We prefer it that way.

This was our chance. If he was coming to feed us, then we could take that as a chance of escape. I pressed my back against the wall, getting ready for a pounce. Victory saw my position and followed after it, her own back legs against the wall. With our tails waving side-to-side, we waited for the ready pouncing point.

Then, the door swung open. The two Xenomorphs, me and her, leapt straight out of the door and landed on the Marine human. He gasped in alarm, and he got his stomach stabbed and his neck ripped out by the two of us.

"We need to return to the hive," Victory said. "I've been located from them before. Follow me. This could take a while, though. Maybe a three hours run straight back to the Refinery. Thank the Matriarch that we hadn't woken up further into Weyland-Yutani's territory. Or else the drawing of the Matriarch would not be as strong as it is now. And that's what keeps us close to her, her power… her lust."

I nodded. "Let's do it!"

With that, the two of us belted into the trees, tails streaming behind us.

* * *

Moonshine had fallen over the Refinery. I slipped in after the female Xenomorph ahead of me had. It had taken five hours to return, with rest stops. Had it not been for Victory's keen senses, I would never had guessed where that Hive had been. As soon as we got into the Refinery together, we broken apart, not saying a word, her one way, me the other.

But there were a couple of things I needed to do. One was to make sure the worm-ling was okay, two was to alert the Queen of the Yautja here, and three, make sure she changes patrols to help the Hive's survival.

Since I already knew where the Xenomorph friend I'd met slept, I used my fore-claws and hoisted myself into the hole. I nearly stepped on his tail on the way in. He smelled me out short before I could even poke or jab a claw at his ribcage or dorsal tubes. He lifted his head up to acknowledge my presence, and he flicked the tip of his tail.

"Revenge Unleashed? What are you doing here? I thought you died."

I paused at that final statement. "Died? Oh no, me and Victory got held captive by some humans for a little while, but we ran back to the Refinery. I have to warn you, there's a Yautja here! It was what ruined me and Victory's hunt in the first place. That's right, a Yautja!"

He took interest in what I had said. "A Yautja? What are you going to do?"

I scraped some rust off the floor with my claws. "I'm letting the Queen and the Hive know. This is bad, I mean, really bad!"

The Xenomorph across from me got to his paws. "You should let Barb know. He's your friend, right?"

Dipping my head, I back out of the hole in the wall. "Sure he is," I mentioned. "I'll go tell him the news." Without waiting for another moment, I bounded across the clearing to right beside where I slept, Barb's housing grounds. I hopped in and prodded the older sleeping Xenomorph with one of my fore-claws.

"What is it?" he asked, flicking his tail.

Looking around, I sheered, "Let the rest of the Hive know this, there's a Yautja outside of the Refinery!"

His gaze was read with a worried note. I wonder if this Hive ever even had a Yautja problem. This one, I recalled was named "Cell-tick."

I bounded back across the clearing to the male Xenomorph was waiting for me. "You like it or not," he growled, "I'm going with you to let the Matriarch know. I could be a witness. And besides, look who's being a hero again."

Resisting the urge to dig my claws into the ground, I warned him off, hissing, "Fine. But what would you be a witness for? You weren't there."

"No, I wasn't," he said. "But I was out at the time it happened. I could be questioned for noticing a few things out of place. Come on, let me go in there with you. Besides, I might even get my name!"

"You're a day old," I hissed playfully. "I didn't get my name until I was nearly eight days old."

"I just wanted to help," he whined.

"Fine… come on, and don't keep me waiting!" I took off to where the closest loft to the Matriarch's chamber was, and I ducked into it. I could detect the male Xenomorph right behind me, his Domed head not too far away from slender, bladed tail. Using my prehensile fore-claws, I climbed up into the chamber.

I knew the Matriarch knew I was there already, but she was fuming.

_What are you doing here, Revenge Unleashed, the Warrior the Disobeys? _ Her face was mixed with several different accusations. She noticed my friend and her teeth bared back in a vicious snarl. _And why do you bring him with you? _she added, drily.

"Matriarch, I needed to let you know that there is a Yautja lingering outside of the Refinery's walls. It threatens at every moment to destroy this entire place. Me and Victory were off hunting, and met with it. It is the "Cell-tick" Predator."

"Celtic?"

It was not me, the Matriarch, or my friend behind me who had spoken those words. I turned and saw Nethead standing on a wall to the far left of me. His gaze was read with a worried expression. "I thought I killed that fool," he added, snarling.

"You know him?" I asked, waving my tail in confusion. "How do you?"

Nethead curled around a pole and sat there, his face a muddled growl. "I and the Matriarch were the only two Xenomorphs that survived the bombing of the Arctic Pyramid. Three Predators were there to become Young-Bloods by killing their first Xenomorphs. One was the Celtic Predator, the other two being Scar and Chopper."

Behind me, someone else laughed. "Yes, Grid, we get it. We really do."

I spun around and nearly ran face-first into the Praetorian Number 6. Her long legs still long, her bony spine still bony, her vicious face still… vicious. And that was when I remembered last night, when I had followed her all the way to the Research Lab. What had she been doing there? "Number 6," I greeted, my voice a snarl.

"Revenge," she spat back in the same tone.

_Enough! _It was the Matriarch who spoke. _I am going to decide on what to do for the meantime. Gather the rest of the Hive, I will tell them myself what we are all going to do in preparations for ensuring our survival. I want Number 6 and Nethead to go so that, Revenge and her friend, stay here with me, I have to speak with you._

Scowling, Number 6 climbed out of the chamber with Nethead not too far behind her. After they were out of earshot, the Matriarch turned to look at me, the growl clear on her face.

_Revenge Unleashed, I find it considerable of you to come and alert me of this. We will spare stories later and explain to me what happened to you and Victory whilst you were under the captivity of the human species. As for your friend, I believe we could give him a name while he is here._

I glanced over and saw his smug grin on me as he padded up to the Matriarch with his head held up high. I seethed, not really, but just friendlily, as he climbed up before her.

_From this moment and forward, you shall be known to the Hive as Legacy Foretold. You have earned this due to your preparation for battle and speed that you displayed when partaking on the hunt today._

Dipping his head in respect, Legacy backed off of the throne, his massive size puny compared to the 30-foot Queen's. She got to her feet and peered at me closely, as Legacy bounded down from the steps before the Matriarch. "Ha, ha! I got my name way before you did!" he teased, flicking his tail in a peculiar manner.

It took only a few minutes for Number 6 and Nethead to return to the Hive. I saw Mercy Claws and Anger and Silence Within all tumble in through the main corridor and not the tunnel that I'd taken to get here. Barb raced up to me and growled, "It's this important? The whole Hive had to come up here for a Gathering? This must be a really bad threat! Good job, locating it by the way."

"Thanks!" I prided. But when I saw his face fall I knew he saw Legacy standing beside me.

Shifting awkwardly, I added, "Glad to know you came, however. The Matriarch is going to explain to us a couple of things, and then we need to hop to it."

Legacy, not noticing the awkwardness, piped, "You think she'll send a battle patrol after the "Cell-tick" Predator?"

I shook my head. "No, the Matriarch is smarter than that. If we try a full-out strike against the "Cell-tick" Predator, we'll probably get destroyed. She'll try a better, stealthier approach to the eradication of our enemies."

Legacy nodded his head in approval of that statement, and Barb sniffed in deeply before whisking off a spot next to Victory and one of her friends, Agony Bringer.

The Matriarch waited for all of the Xenomorphs to file into the room. As the place went silent, she let out a deep, guttural growl, her face showing a mixture of fear and determination for her Horde. All the others could sense this as well because they let off screeches, hisses, growls, and screams of terror and caution, wondering what they would have to do in order for their survival.

_Everyone, listen! If this Yautja finds the location of our hive and decides to blow it up or kill all of us, do know it has been an honor. We will do whatever we can to make sure that this Predator does not find us. So, this is what we're going to do._

_We will start duties over this place, reinforcing walls, secret attack patrols, scouting, and the occasional hunt. We need preparations for this fight. Never before in our lives had we had an attack put forth by a Predator, so this moment is not one to take lightly. Only I and Nethead have ever faced a Yautja attack before. For any advice, go to him._

_My most trusted Hive members, all the Numbers, Nethead, and with the help of Barb, Victory, Anger, Mercy Claws, Silence Within, Revenge Unleashed, and Phenomenon Unknown, will all be the first-line in the final battle. They will also split up the groups. In fact, I want Terror to join them._

_This fight will be the one to test your determination and viability as Xenomorphs. Make your Matriarch proud. _As she finished her speech to the Hive, she threw back her head and let out an earth-shaking roar. All at once, the other Xenomorphs screeched and screamed as well, tails and claws and inner jaws flying all over the place in their agreement.

Legacy looked over to me and bounded forward. "Put me in your group," he begged.

"No, Legacy Foretold. You cannot. You shall join in the secret attack patrol, however, so you can actually fight the "Cell-tick" Predator if he investigates the Refinery. I'm counting on you."

Frustrated, he clawed the ground and lashed out with his tail, teeth baring in a snarl as the handsome Xenomorph let out a ragged breath. "Fine!" he spat. "But be safe." He brushed my muzzle with the tip of his tail.

I dipped my head in response. "To you as well. Now, go! Get to your group, they await you!"

Snarling, Legacy Foretold took off to where a bunch of other Xenomorphs were perched, already in that group. I turned to see Victory organizing patrols, but when I bounded over to her, I was surprised by her hostility after her previous forms of kindness, even if in small portions.

"I thought," she snarled, the top of her lip curling in a growl, "I said I didn't want to be near you!"

I backed up, my hindquarters pressed up against a wall, my tail quivering. "You still don't accept me, Victory?" I snarled.

"Why would I?" she growled. "And don't expect I ever will. All you do is ramble on and on about how you didn't want this fame, but if you didn't want it, then stop doing all of this for the Hive!"

Before waiting for an answer from me, she just stalked off with her dorsal tubes quivering in anger.

I hung my head, appalled, for even thinking our trip together got us a little bit closer.

So after all the patrols had been settled out, I climbed up onto the rafters high overhead and watched the Xenomorphs huddle around with activity. Some of them prepared walls and made them thicker, giving it the slimy, dripping goo of a Xenomorphic Hive. Others climbed into the wall for attack, and seldom went off into the darkness to go hunt.

"I wonder if we'll make it. Surely a Xenomorph like you, Revenge, is up for the challenge."

Turning, I saw Barb slipping his way up the slope towards me, flagging his tail. "Oh, it's you," I purred. "I didn't actually think you'd talk to me after seeing me hanging out with Legacy Foretold."

Barb sat down beside me. I glanced at his slender frame, his long legs, not longer than mine, but still long, and his tail longer than mine, but only by a few inches. Short-tailed Xenomorphs is a not a good thought. Makes me shudder. Ooh. That's not a really good image to me now.

"Friends aren't like that," Barb said, flicking his tail. "Why would I be your friend if I judged the people you enjoy being around?" After a brief pause, he added, "So, how has Victory been treating you?"

I scoffed. "Terribly," I hissed, flattening my dorsal tubes against my back, claws scraping in the ground. "She just can't get over whatever I've done to her. I know she said that I just brag, but I never do! I really don't want this destiny, I just want to be an ordinary Xenomorph. Barb, how can I prove that to her? Prove to her that I just don't want to keep on fighting?"

The larger Xenomorph shrugged. "Give it time, Revenge. Give it time."

The silence was welcoming. I turned and looked over at my longest friend, and I lashed out my tail. "What did you grow up as? What was your name?"

Barb glanced my way. "My name, before Barb, was Slaughter Forbid."

"What was your past like?" I pressed.

I felt him go tense beside me. "Well, when I chestbursted, I was already in the middle of the Hive. The Xenomorph that was born right beside me at the same time was Victory. We became immediate best friends. We hunted together, we ate together… we got our names. I was Slaughter Forbid, she was... Forever Despaired. She soon… fell in love with me."

He paused. Then moved on.

"I liked her too, I think. But something about me did not appreciate her. I think it was her the darkness in her heart, I don't know. There was something evil about her, even her name said so. Forever Despaired. Forever without hope, was pretty much what her name meant. She does not lust or crave me like she used to, but I became… slightly less interested in her ever since then. I don't know! It was all so fast. She still dreams for me to be her mate."

Lifted a claw, I added, "How old are you?"

"Seven years old."

I nearly fell off of my perch. "Seven years?" I gaped. "Holy! You're one of the oldest Xenomorphs I've ever seen!"

Barb grinned weakly at me. "That so? She's been chasing me for five of those years. These past three years, she subsided and became a bit darker, I guess. I wasn't helping matters, I don't think. For the first two years, she was desperate to becoming my mate. I wanted to be her mate, too, but she needed discipline. Once I knew she would not accept that, my urge to be her mate soon became a faint memory. Maybe if she learned, it would come back. But she never learned, and my urge never returned."

Continuing with his story, I subjected, "How were you treated?"

"Like a king. I was one of the best fighters, still am. I became even more respected once I knew I had a name. One of the humans on the battlefield yelled 'It's Barb!' and there it was. My name. Victory got hers soon after I did."

I nodded. "Interesting." I waited for another question to pop up. "So, how do you think Victory became so… like herself."

Barb seemed troubled. "She's always been like that. Just a natural darkness embedded itself there, I suppose. She always hated Xenomorphs that she never found interesting, or liked to show off. You were just one of those Aliens. And… what doesn't help add on to your problems is also the fact that she thinks you stole me. But, don't worry, you didn't. I just don't see why you have to suffer the consequences of Victory's indescribable fury."

"I don't either," I privately agreed. "Just met her one day… she hated me."

Barb sighed. "Let's just hope it doesn't last forever. I would hate for such a nice Xenomorph like yourself to be forever tailed by such a trouble-maker. Now, I must go see the Matriarch and find out when she would like the front line battle patrol to be sent out. Oh, and whilst you're just hanging around, I suggest you go meet Phenomenon Unknown. He's a… real interesting follow, I believe. You might like him."

I watched my friend bound off the rail, his scrawny shoulders brushing with every tentative step. I suddenly knew how Victory loved him so much… he was everything a mate wanted. He was handsome, good at fighting… but I knew that the evilness of Victory was never going to be matched by Barb's sweet, loving attitude. They were just not meant to be.

But I had a feeling Barb's rejection was only fueling Victory's merciless anger.

_Everyone move to position! The Yautja is on its way! It has found the Refinery! Front line battle patrol, I want you to take your spots! Siege, be right behind them! Let's see if we can get out of here as less messy as possible, and refrain casualties._

At the sound of the Matriarch from her chamber, I stood huddled beside a male Xenomorph I did not know.

"Revenge, right?" he asked. "Nice to meet you. I am Phenomenon Unknown."

"Pleasure's all mine," I hissed in greeting as I pressed myself against the wall. "Barb recommended myself to your company. Said you were… interesting."

Phenomenon's gaze flashed. "Did he now? Hmm… I guess he did partake little interest in our conversations, but that is not the point. At least my company has not completed subsided by his claws. Always guessed him to be… not the brightest fish in the river."

_Here he comes! _The Matriarch's words rang in my ears.

Every Xenomorph went tense with fear, getting ready for their part in this epic battle.

Finally, the Celtic Predator stepped into the burnt-down hole of the Refinery. He was uncloaked for the most part, and the Young-Blood clicked in annoyance of his surroundings. He unsheathed his wrist blades, clicking like all disturbing Yautja do. His eyes flashed when he saw the darkness of the place, because Predators, although fearless they were, did not appreciate nor like the bitter dark, unlike us.

Then, an extremely loud honking interrupted the silence as a Marine truck collided into the side of our reinforced Refinery, sending hiding Xenomorphs all over the place. Screeches wailed into the night as the truck destroyed a metal wall, a loud Marine party breaking in to the epic fight we were getting ready for.

Snarling, the Predator cloaked and ran off. I could hear his heavy footsteps as he darted. The Combi Stick getting ready to pierce any human that even stumbled in his path. But then, since the main target had fled from the battle clearing, all Hell broke loose.

A squealing, screaming massacre of angry, infuriated Xenomorphs went all over, as more Marines poured in through the hole the first truck had made. And since technology was how it was, the front of the truck was not even busted. But I felt some slight annoyance when I smelled the Androids in there. Those were a bigger, better threat to us. But the main course was the Predator. We needed to destroy it, fast!

"Phenomenon! I need you to bring Anger, Mercy Claws, Terror, and Barb to the left so we can push out those humans! Bring any volunteers from the surprise attack groups to help you, because from this point forward, they're joining the fight at the front lines!" When he looked like he was about to argue, I insisted, "Don't even complain! Just do it! For the Hive's sake, Phenomenon!"

Dipping his head, the Warrior let out a fearsome screech as he bared his teeth at any opposition and growled furiously. He took out all indicated members from the main fight, and then belted to the left just like I'd asked them to.

Skirting the corners, I raced along the corridors with my tail streaming behind me. I was determined to get this right, and help clear the horde from certain doom!

Androids and Marines poured into the side of the facility, letting out human-like battle cries that were stupid and pointless to my ears. I nearly crashed into a fleeing Xenomorph who'd gotten shot in the shoulder, and he was suppressed to a limp, a painful gleam in his gaze.

"Lean against me," I ordered, tapping my claws against the ground impatiently. "You can't stay out here in the open forever."

Gratefully, the male Xenomorph crawled over to me and pressed his wounded side against my shoulders as well. I felt the restraints on his muscles and could tell from simply touch that his would was painful. I gave a sympathetic wave of my tail as I led him to a safe spot in a vent.

"Stay in there," I warned him. "And for the Hive's sake, stay put! Someone will be there to help you in a few minutes."

I pelted away from his location and sniffed disdainfully, trying to figure out the location of the fleeing Celtic Predator. I saw more Androids push in though the sides of the buildings with narrowed white or red eyes. Some of them held "smart guns" and others simple "Pulse Rifles". I tried hard on my muscles, pushing me faster and faster, knowing the speed I was capable of and I struggled to make myself go faster. But eventually, I knew I was a match for a racing bullet getting brought to a Xenomorph. I was on fire! Just like, several weeks ago, Barb had said when I was going to talk with the Matriarch for the first time.

Grenades laced the air with toxins and fumes. It was hard to detect anything in the open space, let alone hear with all the yelling Marines and screeching Xenomorphs. The humans, to me, were making more noise than us Aliens, but I bet they thought we were the loud ones. Please. Just, really.

Panting, I turned the area and could see Number 6 in a hissing fit, scratching any opponents that went by her. She grabbed one of the Marines by the head and opened up her mouth to reveal her inner jaw, snapping and snarling.

The Marine gasped and lunged away, but Number 6's grip was firm and she snarled at him when he tried to get away. She wrapped her tail around the man's back and held him up close, a sneer embedded on her face.

Dangling her tail over the humans pathetic head, she placed the very tip of the blade right on his neck and under his chin, before she gave her tail a heavy sling and she ripped right through the flesh on his neck keeping his head and shoulders together, completing decapitation a Marine. I watched as his head fell down and rolled around on the ground before me, and I smirked smugly at it as it bobbled all over the place. Number 6 dropped the Marine's body in her fit of disgust.

I rushed on. Nethead pounced down on one of his enemies and gave it a head-bite, before baring his teeth in a nasty snarl before leaping to the next one. Claws laced the air like flying ribbons as they met with flesh and blood and bone. The sharp teeth of another legendary Xenomorph carved the meat of an unsuspected human, and it gagged as a response, writhing under the Xenomorph's tight grip. The blood that came out of the human piled up on the floor of the Refinery, and the Marine gagged as it was disposed of to the side.

The long tail of "Grid" continued on as he drove to menacing tip through the armor of an Android. He let out a feral snarl as he raked it up the body of the Synectics project, ripping the muddled pale flesh in two pieces. White blood dribbled all over the floor as the Android got shredded. I stared in awe as the blade got ripped clean out of the Android's tough armor, and the metal body fell to a clank on the floor. The Android let out a few last breaths before it shriveled up completely and died.

A few bullets rippled up the side of the wall behind me, leaving bullet holes right in the side of the Refinery. I let out a deep, warning growl as I jumped up on the ceiling and starting to make my way to where-ever my opponent was standing. Then I saw a Marine standing there with a Pulse Rifle, and I growled fearsomely, remembering Mercy Claws' father, who had died from one of these guns. A Marine named Rookie had shot down some rocks above the Xenomorph, and it fell down on top of the warrior and he'd died. I still would never forget the tail poking out through the rocks, and the blood splatter, on the first rush I ever went into, several weeks ago.

I lashed out at the Marine beneath me with my long, prehensile tail. It clipped the ground and metal with a clang as it struck and missed the human. Feeling lucky, I think, the Marine aimed his gun up high at me and pulled the trigger. Click. The man let out a groan of pain, frustration, and fear as he realized that his gun was out of ammo, and that any moment now, he could have died.

And that was what I did as I reached for his neck and pulled him in, not daring to let him collect that magazine beneath us. I opened my mouth a snapped out with my inner jaw. He trembled beneath me, his arms battering away at my much firmer ones. But no matter what he did, he was not breaking free. This time, my inner jaw did just what I wanted it to as I wrenched it forward at his head. It burst through the other side with a gust of blood, then the human fell limp in my arms.

The thrill of the fight embraced me once more. Racing along another walls, I slung my coiled tail at another enemy, and he shrieked, ducking for cover.

Plopping down on the ground, I let out a deafening roar at my attackers as they riddled bullets at me, but none of them touched me. My durability was far too great!

All the fighters beneath me were winning the fight, since we heavily outnumbered the humans, but still, none of us outnumber a Yautja. That was the main threat here, and I still had no idea where that even was. But still, I searched the rooms and hallways, using my nose and my ears, but nothing worked. This Predator was hidden well.

The tightest of the rooms around me was uncomfortable, but we, as Xenomorphs, were quite used to it. I moved like an expert down the tight corridors, me knowing this place like I knew my own scent, although I was nose-blind to that detection that was how well I knew my own odor.

Claws tried to find a hold on the ground underneath me, but to no prevail. The footing here had been too loose, and I was down on my side in a second. I looked up in alarm, heart pounding against my chest. Now, before I got back up on the wall, I was vulnerable to any grenade fire or bullets whatsoever. I felt the explosion around me as I lunged for the nearest wall. Fire swarmed me and all over the place, and I screamed in terror for one thing…

Xenomorphs hate fire.

It was coating me like a fur coat a cold human. I screeched and screamed, waving in panicked circles to get the disgusting thing off of me, but to no use, it still held fast, and the fire was still burning right through my exoskeleton, getting ready to make me brittle and unable to move very quickly, again making me vulnerable to gunfire, or worse, another grenade.

This time, however, I saved myself by flying off the wall and rolling on the ground, smothering the flames against the cold ground. The flames, now muffled and no longer visible or painful, had left painful marks in my skin and arms, but I was intact for the most part. Shaking off any worry or panic, and although my heart still raced, I continued on my way.

Other Xenomorphs started to die. I could sense from the presence in the air around me that more of our kind was getting killed. I needed to find that stupid Yautja, and fast! Before he could blow up our entire Hive, killing our Queen and everyone I ever knew and loved. And that was not going to happen.

Not while I was still breathing.

Still determined to locate the Horde's main opponent, I watched as countless of our kind and the other kind got wiped out. Bullets met black exoskeletons, and claws met armor of a Marine. It was war. I was starting to find a thrill in it, but my wounds were sore and aching, although Xenomorphs healed fast and getting rid of this pain was not going to take all that long, I didn't believe.

I was getting closer to the real center of this place. The fight was taking place to the Northwest side of the structure, and battles were few back here. A couple of guarding Praetorians were standing outside, with flicking tails, but other than that there were a few fights, some drones, and some warriors all over the place, getting ready for the battle that might come there.

I dripped down to the nearest Praetorian. "Have you seen the 'Cell-tick' Predator?" I demanded, breathing a hurried state because I needed to find this beast real fast or else my Hive could just die on the spot.

Snarling and curling her teeth, the Praetorian just sneered, "No, I'm afraid not. Nothing has come through this way. You might want to turn around. No Yautja over here. I'll send a Drone over if we see anything, you got it?"

Burying my claws in the metal beneath me, I rasped, "We don't have time for any of that! I'll just keep going this way and will circle back if I have to. Thanks anyway!" I called.

The Praetorian dipped her massive head before subsiding once more to the shadows. Dropping back to the ground, for I had once been sprinting along a wall, I used my dull senses to smell out anything, blood, tracks, a body odor. Nothing. I was wondering if the Praetorian was right. Had I taken a wrong turn? It didn't matter to me if I had or not, now. All that was important was finding the Predator and ensuring its death.

Still, I found nothing though. The fight was still behind me and I could be helping them. But I felt as though something was still amid in these chambers, I just couldn't figure out just quite what it was. As if the Yautja was lurking here among these corridors somewhere, and just couldn't be noticed because it was so sneaky. And that was when the dreadful thought hit me, because I knew right then and there that that was probably who or what the Predator was going to try to look for first. The Matriarch.

Screeching, I started to flee right back to her chamber, my legs streaming beneath me. My tail I was sure must have looked like a blur as I raced along the chambers, dodging besides any threats. If my Queen was in danger, then I had to stop it, or our entire Hive would be wiped out completely.

But no matter where I searched, the Predator was invisible. Snarling, I continued on my path to the Matriarch's housing grounds, even if the Yautja not there I would not have cared because I needed to make sure she was safe from the dangers of the outside. If she wasn't, then I would most likely feel as though I had a death on my hands. And not just one death, but the whole Hive's as well. And if I was going to be responsible for that many deaths, I would not know what to think. What and where would I be? An outcast? A traitor? The ideas burned in my head, but I'd be too dead to know it,

The screaming of Xenomorphs nearby halted me in my tracks, and I followed a scent to where three Aliens were getting cornered by five Marines with smart guns. I saw each one of my sisters get shredded and fall over in agony as they died. I gasped, my tail lashing. Knowing what I had to do, I lowered my gaze and sprang up into the air, getting ready to bring a strong hand on my enemies and avenge my sisters.

Bullets sprayed my stomach, head, and chest as I dashed forward, and despite the pain, I moved on, lifted up a coiled tail to sling at the closest enemy. Once my tail struck their face, their neck twisted and they died, but the other four aimed their smart guns at me with ease, using laziness to determine where I was and not their own, miserable eyes.

I scarfed the nearest enemy across the head and he screamed in his own terror before falling dead. Seething, one of the other enemies lifted up their gun to point at me, but I jumped ahead and landed on the ground before them, using my powerful arms to lift them up and out of the air. Seeing as to how his friend's legs dangled, one of the Marines completely dropped his smart gun and tore off the other direction. Seeing as to how I was now focused on to killing his teammate, the remaining Marine studied the device on me.

But ha, I was smarter than that.

Quickly using my tail to batter down the human I was killing, I catapulted onto the roof and hid there for a minute, before slinking back down and wall-tailing my newest opponent fresh across the head. He died immediately from his wounds. Before going to keep searching for the Yautja and saving the Matriarch, I took a quick bite of the human here before returning my sprint down the hallways and tight, narrow, corridors. If I ran straight to my Queen's housing grounds, I should make it there soon, but something inside doubted I would make it there soon, and neither would the Predator.

The screams of another Xenomorph in distress worried my slightly, and I ducked behind a cover to make sure the Androids beneath me did not see me. I heard little bits of their pointless conversation, all robot-like and stuff, so the pronunciation of words a bit off, I noticed, bleakly. Therefore, they were not even interesting to listen to either, but their white heads were still peaked and glaring at one another.

"Immediate quarantine protocol dismissed. Enabling transaction unit – warning – unknown specimen inside receptacle."

At those last words, I glanced around me, and noticed I was in a pod-shaped thing. Realizing I must have been above a "receptacle", I bounded off of it as the Androids returned to their work. A Marine was after them as well, carrying a micro-organizer installment chip. The three creatures paused before the clear pod-shaped thing.

"Materialized, all detections eradicated. Immediate quarantine protocol dismissed. Continue with allocated procedure."

The Marine shot the Android an unhappy look.

"I get it buddy, I do. Now, let me do my business."

The man knelt down beside the receptacle, eyes peering.

"Oh, I see. It fits in here, right, buddy?"

The Android looked down. "Affirmative. Transaction slot enabled. Coordination unit deviates into propagated alignment. Simultaneous action to other receptacles is mandatory for full functionality of the designation: Refinery."

The Marine turned. "What, buddy? Other receptacles? This ain't the only one?"

"Negative. Other receptacles are positioned around the outside of the Refinery as well as in. Take caution – unknown specimens surround a majority of our detachment signals. Motion trackers advised."

The Marine held up a clammy signal and sighed. "I trust you pal. Help me get this in."

Not wanting to listen to their conversation further, I dispatched from them and made my way to the Matriarch's housing grounds.

Everything was silent. All seemed in place, the rust, the walls, the metal, the segments, and the roof. I was relieved to think that this place after all had been okay, and that my worries had in fact been wrong. Just to check on my Queen and make sure she was still alive, I started making my way to the door right outside of her chamber.

And froze dead when I saw the uncloaked Predator slipping into her chamber. One moment hit me then and there.

The Matriarch.


	5. Chapter 5

Dashing forward with my claws scraping scores in the metal ground that bundled beneath me, I lunged for the door as the last remains of the Celtic Predator slipped behind it. He made no sound as he thrust in, but once he entered, the Matriarch must have detected his presence for she let out an angry screech.

_No! _This could not be happening!

The sound of a Plasma Castor revving up sounded ahead of me, and I skirted the corner just in time to see the blue orb racing to the Queen of the Xenomorph Hive.

It hit and scarred one of her docile forearms, and she roared in fury, shaking off all the metal around her, but as it did, I leapt viciously at the Yautja, roaring my infuriated self to Hell.

Celtic turned to me and started with the Plasma Castor again, but I wouldn't have that. I dodged beneath the blue beam as it shot overhead of me, crashing into the well-guarded metal wall. The sound of claws unsheathing was the only thing I soon came to hear, and I used my back legs to thrust up at the enemy that dared face the Matriarch.

Claws met wrist blades in the epic duo, scars and scratches whirling around us, as individuals. Blood laced the air in ribbons, splattering all over the ground, some burning acid, some neon green.

The Matriarch, observing the both of us but not interfering, flicked the tip of her curled tail in interest.

_How long can you abide?_

I replayed her quote in my head, and I was determined to get this behind me. I wrapped my fore-claws around myself and waited for the strike coming up. The wrist blades lashed against my black exoskeleton, but they were repelled back, slamming nearly into the Celtic Predator's own armored torso.

Seeing this as my chance, I lunged again, my claws digging beneath his Bio Mask to try and pry it off his face. But to no prevail, and deep wrist blades met my rib cage as I attempted it.

The whole world tipped sideways, and I was thrown on my side with a scream of pain, anger flaring in my chest at my failure. The Predator, seeing to how I was now lain askew on the floor, approached me, clicking and clacking like all dumb Yautja do. He arched his hand back to stab at me further, to kill me, and eradicate me.

Another beast threw itself off the wall of the Matriarch's chamber, slamming into the Predator as he nearly had me on my legs, begging and dying. Smelling out with my senses, I recognized Nethead as he raced towards the Celtic Yautja.

Relief flooded through my bones and black, shiny film as I knew that I was under the protection of some legends.

The fight was brutal.

Nethead had flung himself at the Predator with unleashed claws, bringing Hell upon the other planet's warrior. Claws scrambled on wrist blades, blood flying through the air in attenuated rivulets, splattering all over the decremented walls and pavements. Trails of steam that spurt up from Nethead's fissures laced the air in creative spirals, and the sound of screeching and roaring was soon all that I could manage to figure out, dizziness and surprise taking over me.

Determined to help one of the three leaders of the Hive, I pushed myself to my paws and raised my tail in an arc over my head, screeching in my attempt to assassinate the Yautja here and finally so his dangerous presence would not linger for the Hive.

However, as I landed a claw strike, it was pushed back by protective gear on the torso of the massive, looming threat, and I was soon sprawled on the ground again, determining in my head whether or not to strike another claw attack or not. Waving my tail as if to win the offensive side of the dilemma, I back up along the wall to where the Matriarch was shaking herself free of the chains that were binding her limbs together, not stuck, I noted, but possibly uncomfortable.

_Fight, _she growled at me, lashing her tail with venomous fury. _Do not guard me, I can protect myself. The main concern here is to maintain position and ensure that the Yautja does not blow up this place. Do as I say._

More than willing to oblige, knowing betrayal or failure to the Matriarch's word was imminent death to anyone who did, I lashed back into the ugly brawl as I sensed Nethead getting slammed against the pavement, writhing in fury, tail spinning in its unrequited attempt to strike against the far larger Predator. However, this attacked failed, and the "Cell-tick" predator just clamped his massive wrist over the attack mechanism and pinned it down so it could not pierce him, not that it could anyway. But that did not mean it couldn't slam his head so hard the Predator could get a concussion.

Running forward, I jumped apprehensively on the Predator's back, taking it by surprise. It wheeled around its arms to cut me off of it, dead or alive, the Yautja certainly didn't care. I used my weak smelling to sense a blow coming off at me, and I barreled beneath it at the last moment, landing in a sprawled heap on the floor.

Tangling my tail with my arms and legs, I coiled up in the ground in misery as I felt a foot smash down on the long, prehensile appendage. Squealing with rage and fury, I opened my mouth and exposed my inner jaw to strike, but could not reach as Nethead was let go and the free hand clamped expertly down over my throat.

Since exoskeletons can easily crack or we can get choked to death, I squirmed beneath his strong grip but I was not able to be move easily. Roaring, I battered at the opposition standing before me, the laceration in my ribs creaking with the pain and the effort of just trying to get and up go.

Nethead slid down the wall with a smeared, smoky wall of steam rising behind him as the blood etched itself on the lacy, round wall. He bared his teeth at the Predator standing ahead of him, not daring to make much noise.

I watched as he rolled onto the ground and kept his head low, moving his limbs low to the ground, prancing on all fours as most Xenomorphs did. His tail was lashing behind him, his glare fixed on the back, weaker spot of the Yautja started to squeeze my throat, cutting off my oxygen. Now not able to breathe, I felt pressure rising up in my throat as I tried to get this fat, alien lifeform off of me. Not an Alien, but… you know. An alien.

Nethead sprang up, reaching with his fore-claws to grab ahold of the wrists that were pinning me against the floor. I watched as the net-launcher on the back of the "Cell-tick" predator aimed towards me with vehemence, locked on my face. Not wanting the same fate as the Xenomorph trying to help me now, I struggled and held on long enough for Nethead to get full grip on the Yautja's wrists and pull him off of me and away.

Gasping to retrieve the well-needed oxygen, I pushed myself to my feet and snarled dangerously, my still active tail stinging with ferocity and pain as it had been stepped on, but I just tried my best to ignore it.

Nethead revealed his inner jaw from between his dangerous, metallic, white teeth and he poised himself to get a better shot. The Yautja turned to get a good look at him as he did so, and he wrestled himself free from the more slender Xenomorph's grip, sending the legendary Hive warrior crashing to the ground with a silent thump.

Squealing with agony, Nethead pushed himself to his own fore-claws as well, lashing his malformed tail with surprise. Baring his teeth again, he approached the Yautja as the fat, not-so-clumsy thing approached me. With a look of regard, I scrambled up the wall for a height advantage over the thing standing with a look of acknowledgement down below me. It reached for the Combi Stick mounted on its back and aimed it up at me. If the stupid thing could have laughed, I wonder if it would have.

A stick landed right where I was had I not jumped out of the way. Standing on another patch of metal, I peered down at where the Yautja leaped up to retrieve its weapon before, again, Nethead struck with fury, roaring and writhing like an Alien possessed.

Turning to give the Queen an unruly glare, I wondered if she could have done… something. Anything! But no, from what I sensed at this position, she was just watching me with mild interest, flicking her chained, coiled tail with little concern of the battle. I almost seethed with fury at the fact a well-trained, experienced Matriarch did not want to help an obviously losing Nethead and I.

Concentration dissolved in what little brain matter I had and I was soon pierced on the foreleg as the swerving disc swiped against my shiny blueish-black skin, hinted with purple and green. Blood dripped in long ribbons to the floor, for I was still standing on the roof, and I bared my teeth in a venomous snarl of infuriation.

Leaping down at my surprised attacker, I sent it my little friend called "claw fury". Scratching scores and tears in the armor and spotted flesh of the Yautja, although my tail was my best weapon, I continued to struggle, the pain from the chest and leg seeming to fade from me whatsoever, fueled by my intense anger. The Predator lifted a wrist blade to yield my sudden strike, but even through the newer claw lashes I made no haste to redecorate my opposition's facial structures, adorning it with tears and lashes for my second attempt to pry the mask from its face.

Nethead saw this as a good, opportune moment, and he slipped out from his hiding spot to bring his rage. Claws scored rakes down the backside of the Yautja, and it clicked in pained as two Xenomorphs were now angrily attacking it.

Slamming both of my hind legs down into the armor, I knocked the breath out of the Yautja, and not only that, ended it sprawled on the floor as well, its prized Combi Stick still wavering high overhead of it. Snarling in its rage, it lashed me off of it with an extended wrist blade and tried to reach up for the stick that teasing dangled from off the ceiling.

"I'll hold him down," Nethead pressed, turning his gaze to me. "Get up there and grab the Combi Stick."

Backing away from the down Predator roaring angrily below me, I climbed up the wall with my claws digging tears in the fine, rusted metal and I made my way up the sloped peak. I could see the shimmering surface of the stick, the little trophy dangling from the banded region. Prying both of my claws onto the stick, I positioned by two hind legs for leverage force to dig it out of the metal embedded around it.

Screeching and tearing sounds alarmed me, for my hearing senses were amazing, and I nearly winced at the sudden noise, my fore-claws wrapped nervously around the weapon that had attempted to kill me only a minute ago.

Then the striking part, once clipped in the wall, decided to let go and I crashed to the ground, hoping that the thing didn't land right-side up and I get stabbed through the chest or stomach. As it landed with a branded clatter on the floor, I plopped down next to it some feet away, and I picked myself to my legs and tried to grab ahold of it again, determined to put it far from the Yautja's searching reach.

As I picked it up again, wobbling nervously on just two legs, a mighty fist clamped around my tail and started pulling me back, making me drop the Combi Stick and soon sending me across the ground, tears ripping up in the metal around me.

Dragged further and further from the thing Nethead observed for me to get rid of, I was hoisted off the ground and thrown some tens of meters away, landing anti-nonchalantly on the floor as my head went down first and crunched against the metal. I tried to pick myself up and ignore the dull, yet sharp throbbing in my head, but I again got dizzy and I fell to my side with a screech of failure.

Nethead glanced over my way with sudden worry, the Yautja seemingly pleased at its attempt to kill me. All sense of feeling eradicated, I could only watch helplessly from the ground, knowing I wouldn't make it out this time. The Predator wrenched the scrambling Nethead from its back and walked over to me, doing so as it picked up the stick I'd tried to get rid of from the ground. Aiming the thing at my already-hurting head, I watched as its well-toned arms raised the stick over his dreaded facial extremity.

Sensing that my death was near, I coiled up on the ground as the stick landed a few meters way.

Looking up in surprise I sensed Nethead finally on the back of the monster, sending it tipping down with its own weight. Slamming the Yautja into the floor, he screeched at it with fury, now using his tail to collide with its head and claws to rip into its face. The Predator beneath him roared, waving his wrist blades all over the place in his attempt to not only remove the scrambling Xenomorph but get to his feet as well.

I had to suck it up. Getting to my feet, I watched as old enemies straggled on together, the prized Dome Warrior screeching and slamming at it, and with the far younger me starting to slide helplessly towards it. I wobbled to my feet nervously, and I raised up a claw, but only to get, again, Nethead to snarl at me.

"The stick!" he warned, lashing his stumped tail. "Make sure he can't use it!"

Diverting my attention to the material laying on the ground, I crawled forward with adept claws to its location, wondered where to lay it. The Matriarch regarded me closely.

_Bring it over here,_ she seethed. _I will make good use to it._

Propping it up in both claws, I seemingly waddled over to where the massive, 30-foot Xenomorph was awaiting me. She used one of her original arms to support her weight as she snatched the Combi Stick from my suppressive seizure of the combat weapon. Toppling onto the floor from her sudden act, I was again sprawled on the groaning metal beneath me, lashing my tail angrily.

_Good. Now return to Grid and await his order._

Finding handholds on the floor, I pressed myself to my legs, ignoring the igneous fury blazing through me, and I made haste to where Nethead was still pinning the larger Predator to the floor, determined to win the second fight with him. Growling, Nethead struggled to get a wrist blade from underneath the Xenomorph's leg holding it down, but to no prevail.

"You're back," Nethead offered with a dip of his head. "Let's finish him off and make sure his threat can no longer linger here."

I stopped and paused, reluctantly, at the base of the wounded creature's body standing trapped below Nethead. "D-do you want me to kill it?" I wondered to him, my mind muddled up with confusion.

The wiser Alien regarded me closely, tilting his head in wonder. "Whatever does it matter?" he demanded, impatience sparkling the edge of his dark-hued tone. "As long as its presence does not disturb our Hive, why does it matter who kills it? If you'd like your glory, kill it, but if you want it to be swifter, allow me to do it."

I clicked my claws on the surface of the trembling metal beneath me, twitching my position to get a good look at the Matriarch who indeed, was making good use of the stick by unbolting the chains still left remaining from her that had traveled all the way from the Winter Hive to here. She noticed me looking at her, and she suddenly looked up at my position and bared her teeth, obviously wanting no disturbance as she did whatever the heck she was doing.

Focusing back on the Xenomorph trapping the Yautja beneath me, I said, "You can kill it, you deserve to. That one is an old enemy, or so you say. If anyone should do it, it should be you."

Pressing myself back against the wall of the cavern ditch high overhead, I saw trouble glinting in his gaze as Nethead focused on me. "We kill it together, so we can both get what we want." He beckoned for me to step closer, and he removed his right fore-claw from the Yautja's left wrist blade, leaving it exposed. I pressed my left paw over it to pin it down, and the Predator roared and clicked, struggling against us. "To make sure it's dead. You don't know Yautja, but they have their tricks." And he stepped halfway over it so I could get some more room.

I claimed the little space he offered for me, gracious for just the slightest bit of space for the final execution. The Matriarch hummed in our minds as we stood over the fumbling Yautja pressed down beneath me and the legendary Xenomorph. _Well done, both of you. Nethead, you excelled wonderfully, and Revenge Unleashed, you have proved capable of many fights, and can suffer through many things. I now give both of you the permission to end the life of the Yautja, and to go help your sisters and brothers fighting the humans outside of my chamber. I will get Number 6 in here to help me._

Nethead observed me closely. "You ready?" he asked, lashing his stumped, defected tail with interest.

Cranking my face to ensure its impassiveness, I hissed, "Yes. When shall we kill it?"

"On three," he answered, dipping his long, banana-shaped head. "One…" he leaned forward, pressing himself closer to the enemy. "Two…" he clamped his fore-claw tighter over the wrist blade he was keeping down. "Three!"

At the same time, both of us unveiled sharp fangs from our mouths, and with them long inner jaws to snap and snare flesh quivering beneath us. The Yautja roared, but finally accepted his fate. His grip on my hind foot slackened as we neared his face, and from Nethead's response knew the same thing endured him as well. In one swift motion, we blasted through his head the same way Nethead had "killed" him the first time – a head bite. And with that, the Yautja's grip did not just lift but it was suppressed altogether, and I watched as the legendary brother of all the Predators died right beneath me.

Stepping off of the body of the dead Predator, I could hear the Matriarch squeal behind me with delight. _Well done, _she prided. _Now go! I shall be alerted of the fight's finish line once it is over._

"Run along, Revenge Unleashed," Nethead warned. "There are still others you have to help back at the edges of the Refinery. They all need you. Get out there! Go! You sisters await you to the full lust of the morning."

I turned and headed back out into the tunnel, time slowing for me again. I knew something bad must be happening know, for whenever time slows for me it is never a good sign. I just made haste, however, pushing myself faster and faster down the tunnel leading away from the Matriarch's chamber. As soon as I was even near the other side of the channel, I could smell, barely, and I hear the screams of humans and Xenomorphs mingled together.

It was actually unfortunate to slam into a snarling Barb, sending me sweeting across the floor. He didn't even budge, but I did. I was knocked backwards, the breath thick out of me. Gasping and sprawled across the floor, I gagged and huffed for my air, and Barb rushed over to help me, his scarred, battered face peering down at my own.

"Sorry about that," he huffed nervously. "Want some help?"

I hissed. "Much obliged," I growled out as I thrust myself to my paws, not wanting the same episode I'd had with Barb the last time I got injured at the Research Lab.

He noted that with a flash of his tail. "Where have you been?" he demanded, eyeing me. "It's been a long time since…" he looked at the tunnel where I'd peeped out from. "The Matriarch?" he hissed.

Sneering at him, I wheeled, "Yes, the Matriarch! Me and Nethead had to go save her from the Yautja! She wasn't even doing anything-"

_Ah… ah… You'd better watch what you're saying, Revenge Unleashed, the Warrior that Disobeys. _

Stiffening in my horror of getting caught, I rasped instead, "But I will do whatever I can to make sure she stays safe. She did save this Hive after all."

Lowering his tone, my best friend whispered, "You were noticed, weren't you?"

Not thinking, I just nodded my head. "Sort of. How's the fight coming along out here since I was gone?"

Laughing, Barb snapped, "Very well, actually. Ever since we'd made a comeback, the Androids and the humans deeper inside of the Refinery have come scrambling back out the way they came back in. Legacy Foretold is a beast in the battlefield. He fights like a demon in a battle. Did you train him?"

"A few things," I admitted. "But only most defensive stuff. Not all too bad offensive. He can run fast as well. You think this kid is a natural?"

Stiffening, Barb lashed his tail and warned, "Seems to be a lot of those, lately. He will never be as good as you though. Keep telling yourself that, and you'll fare along just fine. In fact, I think despite 6 and Nethead, you're the Hive's best warrior yet."

Anger clawed up in spikes, but I shoved it hard down. "Right. Naturals aren't even real. They're just ones who can believe. The only thing this Hive can seem to believe in anymore is me. So what's your point to prove, Barb?"

Growling, Barb hissed at me, "At least this guy can smell."

Silence.

Dead and cold.

Barb's facial expression dropped once he realized his mistake – don't ever make fun of Revenge Unleashed about her disability to smell. I could recall our conversation a few weeks back we'd had, me snarling out at him when he teased me for it. And now he'd done the exact same thing.

"How dare you?" I sneered, anger rising in my tone. "I thought you were my friend."

Turning to run, I was paused in my attempt as Barb's fore-claw landed on my tail and held me to the spot. "I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to! I just got mad because you always underestimate your powers – and I think – I was just saying – I'm really sorry-"

"Don't ever try to refresh what you just called me! Leave me alone!" I snapped out at his hand, growling furiously.

"I am your friend! I didn't mean to! Please." But I wrenched away from him and started to run, knowing I was faster and that I could escape his grasp. Watching me down the tunnel, he whispered after me, "Please forgive me, Revenge. I really didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Halting in my tracks, I turned to face him, growling. "For what? Legacy Foretold would never call me such a thing, no matter how much of a friend he is to me!"

It was Barb's turn to get mad. I could tell because his dorsal tubes began to tremble with rage, bristling madly. "Don't bring him into this," he lashed out at me. "Forgive me for what I said, I didn't mean to do it."

"Fine, whatever," I seethed, feeling no need any more to argue. "Just leave me alone, all right? I need to recover from what you just said." And without waiting for a response, I bounded ahead and left him on the outcropping behind.

Pounding through the tunnels that turned and twisted, I crashed into the same Praetorian ahead of me that I had asked about the Yautja previously. She turned to glare at me, over twice my height, then she paused and laughed. "Oh, it's you." She flicked her tail and brought me to me fight, as I'd been staring in shock. "You find that Predator yet?"

Coldly, I sniffed, "Yeah, it is dead."

"Something wrong with you?" the Praetorian spat, her demeanor changing suddenly, her tail soon lashing back and forth with her teeth bared at me. "You seem a little bit angrier than before."

Pausing, I shuffled with embarrassment. "S-sorry. I just got really mad at someone."

"Well, okay then. Why don't you come down here? You seem battered up pretty bad. I could give you something to drink. I mean, we're running out but you seem to be pretty thirsty."

I wrestled free from her, collapsing on the floor with my tail landing clumsily behind me. "No!" I demanded. "I need to help the Hive! We must make sure we don't die."

Much more massive claws held me back, and I found myself battling with air.

"Revenge! You must rest for now. I know you hate the dear thought of having rest, but you need it. Xenomorphs can heal on their own, I know that already, but you certainly need some guidance, and a bodyguard to make sure you don't run off." The Praetorian flicked the tip of her tail. "I'll go grab someone, but you're coming with me to make sure you don't decided to get sneaky. Okay?"

I got to my legs after she'd let me go. "Fine." It was a dull hiss that resided at the back of my throat, and I lashed my tail dangerously but just followed after the larger Praetorian ahead of me. She just was wanting to help me for the best, I knew. Sometimes I wished I could show more appreciation for those things.

"What's your name, anyway?" I asked, deciding to change the subject of a gloomy mood. If you don't get what you want and never will, don't keep a straight face. At least smile.

"Molest Tail." The Praetorian paused at the foot of a serrated wall, all metal and rusted from years of usage. "I guess I like my name, makes me seem fearsome. At least to me, I'm not sure what you think."

I paused and halted as she scrambled up onto the wall. "And I guess you already know my name. Who doesn't?" I followed her up onto the wall and we began to ascend higher to a little fissure in the metal that a bunch of other wounded Xenomorphs were curled up in, as well as a few cleaner, more well-fed, healed ones looking after them. Bits and scraps of meat and water were getting hoisted around the place, Xenomorphs groaning for their freedom and moaning of their wounds' pain.

"I don't want to go in there," I started, backing out of the hole. "I think I just want to go back into the fight and kill something…"

"No!" Massive claws gripped my shoulders as Molest Tail hoisted me up after her and put me down in the hole with the Xenomorphs. "Complaining will make you sound weak, and make everyone think you believe you're better than the rest of them. Just stay quiet and I'll get you a more private spot to be looked after."

I followed her up into the hole as her long tail slipped in. Xenomorphs everywhere turned to look at me, their hisses showing their surprise.

"Revenge," acknowledged a large Xenomorph, clearly Phenomenon Unknown that I had met earlier this very day. "It seems as though you have done good for this Hive but taken a toll from it as well. Molest Tail, whatever do you need? I will inform the Warrior immediately after your request."

Molest Tail, who was ducking over in the tunnel because it was far too small for her, muttered to him, "Yes, get her some water, food, and a place to rest. And also, get her a guardian to make sure she doesn't run off. Also, about the resting spot, make sure its private. For her guardian, I want you to pick Fallen Despair."

Dipping his head, Phenomenon slipped into the shadowy darkness and gathered up water, human leg, and came back out with a ragged Xenomorph with his lip severed off so the teeth beneath his fleshy membrane were exposed. It was horrible, and three of his fingers and toes were gone. One or five ribcage bones were missing completely, exposing organs, and several dorsal tubes were gone. Scars adorned his body perfectly, nicks and little specks complimenting his already torn-up self. I winced as he approached.

"To look after Revenge?" he asked, clearly in a conversation with a wounded Phenomenon Unknown.

"Yes," the large Xenomorph replied, lashing his tail. "Take good care of her."

I was surprised, I'll admit. Fallen was a lot younger sounding than I thought, with a sweet-hued tone thick and wonderful altogether. His claws, most missing, left scores in the ground beneath him, and he peered down at me with an expression regarding close wonder. "They say you're a strong one," he breathed. "A born warrior. I've never seen you before, but I get to hear what they all say."

Shuffling, I muttered, "How nice to meet you."

A slap in the face by Molest Tail caused me to regain my train of thought. "You're going to, yes, look after Revenge Unleashed. She wants to go into the fight," she looked at me with a sneer, "and make sure she can't."

Fallen nodded. "Let's go," he said, bounding ahead eagerly, his surprisingly intact tail wavering behind him. "You need your rest, and we haven't a moment to waste."

Dragging myself after him, I grumbled with a whiff, "Yeah, I'm so excited."

I almost thought I saw a sneer on his face, but he kept it back or something. "Very well," he responded, his cheerful self brightening up. "Let's go," he repeated.

So with him leading, I weaved through the narrow tunnels, using my lame sense of smell to determine where he was. As he padded through the dense metal walls, I could see… well "see", where he was taking me. It was a location overhead of the fight, giving the both of us a pretty extravagant view of what was happening. Screeching Xenomorphs were tumbling around under the metal arch, and human "gunfire" rattled up the sides of the walls with clangs and smacks.

"Decided to give you a nice spot," Fallen announced as he slithered up into the hole with me following closely behind. Wrapping my tail around a perch to steady myself calmly, I hooked my fore-claws into some holds where I was more visibly aloud to watch what was going on underneath me and could still talk to Fallen at the same time.

"How fortunate," I hissed, flaring up my dorsal tubes with a lash of my tail. "At least I can possibly find out where Legacy Foretold could be, Barb said he was a good fighter." I stiffened when I uttered out the name that threatened me by announcing I could not smell very well.

Fallen Despair noticed that, clearly. He acknowledged my concern with a flick of his tail. "Don't worry about your friend, Revenge Unleashed. Fights are normal for two people that have known one another for a long time. Trust me, you'll forgive him."

"He called out something I wished he really hadn't…" I thought about that for a moment. "I guess I sort of overreacted, I guess, but I didn't appreciate it." Looking up, I clarified, "I'll let him know I'm sorry after the fight. He did tell me he didn't mean to and stuff, I just sort of got all defensive. I feel bad now."

Dipping his head, Fallen rasped, "Again, normal. Guilt is something we all have, particularly when it comes to friends. I agree the right thing to do is after this siege is to let him know that you're sorry."

Deciding to change the subject, I asked instead, "How come you know who I am and how come I don't know you?"

Fallen glanced my way, flicking his tail without much bother. He vociferated, "I suppose I don't fight or hunt anymore, so automatically my only use is to help out Xenomorphs that are in there, ease their worries and troubles, and also help the healing procedure. I am already aware that we can heal by ourselves, but the fact is with the help of some things I picked up in my lifetime I can speed up the process."

"Tell me about these things." Wrapping my tail over my fore-claws, I glanced in the direction Fallen Despair was repositioning himself as well, testing his claws on the ground to ensure his stability. When Xenomorphs are ever unstable was the real question to my head, however.

Fallen snorted. "Just herbs, I guess," he cleared, obviously never having to have the answer to this question vocalized. "They speed up the process. The other Xenomorphs in there turn them into a sacrament and we spread it over the wounds. If that was what you were looking for."

I nodded, lashing my tail out. "Hmm. How about your wounds? Where did that come from?"

Fallen growled, "A battle. It was a serious hit. This is what happens to you – all of these wounds, when you survive the aftermath of a tornado."

Gasping, I had to steady myself on my limb. "That was what caused all of these lacerations? A tornado?"

Again, the other Xenomorph nodded. "Got sucked up in there right as I was charging into a battle. Just swept in and picked all of us up. I was the only one who survived. When the whole thing was over, I was lucky enough to grab onto something to help ease my descent back to the ground, but even that landing wasn't pretty. This is what happened." He gestured to his open ribcage, missing dorsal tubes and claws, as well as his exposed, metallic teeth.

I nodded. "Interesting. I don't know if I would have gotten that lucky."

"They say, by 'they' I mean the other Xenomorphs… they say you are some sort of prophet, I don't know? You always get saved, or are very lucky. Like a guardian Angel from the sky come down to secure the already-intact puzzle pieces of the Xenomorph Hive. What do you have to say about that?"

Shaking my head, I snarled, "I don't know what's up with these Xenomorphs. Just because I saved the Xenomorphs at the Research Lab some weeks back that automatically ensures me as the hero. I didn't ask for this."

Lifting a claw, Fallen said, "Aha. But with your loyalty, you deserve it."

"It gives me enemies. Why do I deserve enemies? Both of them are jealous of me. Number 6 is mad at me because I'm getting the glory she ever wanted, and Victory hates me because I impressed Barb when she could not. It wasn't like I did this stuff intentionally."

Fallen nodded. "I understand. I never was hated or loved, I guess. The only friend I had after these wounds was Phenomenon Unknown. He gets all Xenomorphs, not the ones who get glory."

I nodded. "He is nice, I noticed," I offered. "How's the fight going underneath us?"

Fallen peered down over the side and scoffed. "Pretty well," he stated. "I've got to say, look at these guys go! I wish I could still fight…" He looked down with a sorrow unknown to my "eyes." Or senses, really. "It sucks, being cooped up in there. But I really appreciate the talk you offered to me."

"You know," I said, "I could be your friend if you want. At first I was pretty intimidated by you, I've got to admit. But after seeing underneath all your wounds… You seem to me like an ordinary Xenomorph."

He smiled, a nice, calm smile. "Thanks, Revenge Unleashed. And yeah, I guess we kind of all are normal, aren't we? It's just part of being in a Hive."

* * *

"Revenge, you have been summoned."

Lunging to my feet, I nearly collided with the wall overhead of me. My feet stumbled a bit, but I relaxed when I saw Legacy Foretold peering into my hole with a look of comfort on his face.

"Oh, it's you," I breathed, relaxing a bit. "Thanks for coming by. What did you say?"

Legacy snorted. "You have been summoned."

"By whom?" I asked, shaking myself to my feet as I slithered out of the hole. "The Matriarch?"

"No," Legacy retorted. "Nethead and Number 6. So as soon as you can, I recommend not keeping them waiting."

Stretching, I asked, "What's the deal with them? Aren't they happy enough for me killing the Yautja two months ago? Seems like everyone is pushing me around nowadays."

"You're still the hero," Legacy said as he backed out of the hole. "C'mon, let's get something to eat. Heard a thing being passed around in these parts."

Slithering out of the hole, I followed my friend as he jumped down with a spiral and landed perfectly on his feet. I was the trainer of this fellow, I was announced that at least a month ago. It turns out he was a natural like me, which is what I said to Barb back at the fight with the Predator. He was an excellent fighter, better than most I've seen, and he had potential. He was thrilled at the notion of me being his mentor.

After the fight, I had gone to apologize to Barb, and he accepted reluctantly, acknowledging the fact that I had indeed overreacted about the whole thing. He said that he was sorry for saying that as well, he was just angry with me for not giving me enough use of the power I had. I wanted to let him know I wasn't just all about the power, but he waved that off with a flag of his tail.

And so, I and he were best friends again, but me and Legacy Foretold were close to. Me and Victory were still worst rivals, but I accepted her presence whenever she was around me. She would still lash out at me and pin me to the ground though, and much to my irritation she would always get me. So when I was training with my trainee I would always have him repeat Victory's favorite moves so I could learn how to avoid them more adeptly.

It was effective for the most part. But sometimes it wasn't and I would get slammed into the ground and made a fool in front of a bunch of Xenomorphs who didn't like me. I could always hear them snickering. Xenomorphs that thought I was a prophet, which was most of them, at least 3/4s, would always lash out at Victory and sneer at her, flaring their dorsal tubes angrily. Thanks to me admitting to Fallen Despair I was his friend and ally, he would always lash at anyone threatening me, and being as intimidating as he was proved to be a helpful thing for my case. He was strong, too.

Although he was not harmful to the other Aliens, he could growl and threaten them, the spikes on the ruff of his tail shivering and bristling with his fury. It made me feel nice to have another friend, on the list that seemed so large and few at the same exact time. As if another ally would jump from their rest to save me from the whirling depths of Hell. I felt nice to have a companion.

Following after Legacy Foretold to the fresh-kill heap, I looked about the messy scraps. Human remains and carcasses were all that remained on the throne of food. As usual, Xenomorphs were gathered around the scraps and entrails, eating to their hearts' content. Some sat alone and ate solitarily, whereas a few other ones sat with large groups and manifested in large conversations. Me and Legacy, we sat away from the larger groups and waited at the outskirts, talking amongst one another quietly but efficiently.

"So," I asked. "Anything in particular you want to train with tomorrow?" I dipped my head to grab a quick torso of human, careful not to consume any bones that might prove fatal to me. Although it would not lacerate anything vital, I feared that it could cause some pretty sincere cramps. Legacy looked up at me when I was done with my bite.

"No," he stated simply. "But I do want to get another look at the campsite around here – I heard that from Wailing Vengeance, there are humans plotting a death threat. They did lose the fight here after all."

Taking another swift bite, I added, "I know, I know. We scared them all out good – Androids and all. I just think that they were unwise to bring siege to the Hive under times of such morale moments. You'd expect a well more-thought plan, but instead we got this sudden siege. Like an oven. Igneous and fiery, burning across your internal extremity. Sudden and rather dramatic, if you asked me." Suffering another bite, I restated, "So, no special attacks you want to look into?"

Legacy shook his banana-shaped head. "Nah," he said. "So, you want to go on a patrol and check out the human camp?"

Scraping off more meat from the human bones and swallowing down the flesh, I growled, "I don't see why not." Shaking off any meaty bits that clung to my serrated exoskeleton, I thrust myself to my feet and snorted. "You can organize the patrol with Number 6. She'll help you set up everything. I need to go talk to someone, call me back out whenever you're ready to go."

About 6. Me and her were as bad a relationship as ever, singling me out in front of other Aliens to make a fool out of me. I didn't expect anything real between us, anyway. She was a Praetorian, only females were Praetorians, and they all seemed to be pretty harsh, maybe except Molest Tail, she was kind.

"Don't forget your summoning," Legacy offered before bounding down the Matriarch's tunnel to her chamber to collect Number 6 to his presence.

Nodding, I slithered down the narrow tunnels of the Refinery, the gooey substance on the walls dripping and fine. My tail, long and curved, followed gallantly behind me as I treaded on. I passed Nethead, surrounded by others on his trip with the people, and Phenomenon Unknown as well. Around me was also Silence Within, Mercy Claws, Anger, Molest Tail, and the friend of Pestilence Withdrawn that soon announced to me her name was Fiery Plague. The tailless Xenomorph on the same mission I'd met, the male one was known as Destruction Unbuilt was there, as well as others I had met like Brutal Score and Thunder Bolt.

I weaved my through the narrow tunnels, keeping my head and shoulders perked high and my tail slithering along. I did have someone to meet, in fact… a Xenomorph I had saved from the humans. The one trapped in the cage at the Research Lab. She told me her name was Darkness Overlord.

Perched on the top of the peak, she saw me and looked down. Hopping off of her perch, Darkness met with me with a greeting of hisses and growls. Finally, she settled down to conversation with me, the flick of her tail enticingly inviting me for a chat.

"Revenge," Darkness Overlord greeted, dipping her head. "How nice to see you. Whatever do you come to my company for?"

I folded my own fore-claws, intentions deep in my exoskeleton to make this quick. "Something has been troubling me," I started. "I feel, ever since the Yautja's death, there is something that the Matriarch has not been telling us."

Darkness peered at me curiously, her claws tapping on the ground.

"Hmm. I see. What do you think she's hiding?" the older Xenomorph pressed.

Looking down, I growled, "Not sure at all. Still – there are many Xenomorphs that you know. Gather some of them and investigate. Make sure you don't get caught. I think she knows more than she lets on."

"I understand, Revenge. I won't let you down."

Dipping my head, I retorted, "Good. Right now I'm going on a patrol to a human base camp with Legacy Foretold. I'll be back soon. Tell me what you figure out then."

Darkness Overlord nodded. "I bet then that you figured this to be a smaller conversing. Well, I'll be off then."

"That's right so," I agreed. "Best be then."

The larger Xenomorph flagged her tail as she passed me. "Fare thee well."

After those words, she bounded off.

What I had told Darkness was right. I was suspicious of that Matriarch. Ever since me and Nethead and murdered off that creature of a "Cell-tick" Predator, a silence, with the same power, had sieged her chamber. Not much word of her since.

Slipping back out of the tiny surroundings, I made my way across the clearing. I was stopped once or twice by a few curious Xenomorphs, and I held in my arrogance and impatience as I talked to them. Best not to keep Legacy waiting. Pushing passed a few other Aliens blocking my path, I nearly stepped on Silence Within's tail as I passed her.

"Watch where you're-" She stopped when she noticed me. "Revenge!" Silence rushed over and grappled one of my shoulders with her grabby fore-claws. "Are you doing well? Not hurt, surely?"

I wrenched my arm free from her seizure. "I'm fine," I huffed, wavering my tail slightly. "Now, if you kind of don't notice, I busy. Need something to get done."

Silence got down on one leg and bowed deep to me. "I must not get in the way of our savior, our hero! Get along now, I will no longer trouble you." With those word she stepped kindly out of my way and hustled along.

I sauntered back to the main clearing with ease. Number 6 was standing busily besides Legacy Foretold, uttering something to him. I paused beside my friend and scoured the clearing of our patrol group. Mercy Claws, Anger, Barb, Victory, me, Legacy Foretold, Molest Tail, Brutal Score, and three female Xenomorphs I did not know.

"I believe," snarled Number 6 as she shoved busily by me, "That I will join your patrol."

Legacy looked over at me as if he'd been trying to sort this out for a while now. I dropped in and gave Number 6 a shove back – not playfully.

"Number 6, that won't be necessary. Legacy Foretold needs to work on his patrol-hunting skills, and with so many Xenomorphs, this is the right time. Perhaps we can all hunt later sometime else?"

The Praetorian sneered at me, but said nothing further except for, "Fine," and dispersed back to where she'd come. I turned back to address the others.

"Legacy Foretold leads the patrol," I huffed. "We are heading to the human camp for investigation. Come along then."

As my friend bounded ahead of me, I heard Victory mutter to Barb, "Not him," but I looked over her rude words and went down the tunnel instead, holding in the sniff I'd saved up for her all day.

The Xenomorphs called into the patrol bounded to the entrance of the Refinery, picking up into a run as they went. Tails streamed behind them, claws sending scratches and scores all over the rusted ground. Screeches flew up into the air as conversation went amid with the Aliens running for the gateway. I paced beside Legacy Foretold at the very front of the search patrol, gliding after him, although I knew I could run faster, and kept to the side of his right flank.

The halls of the Refinery were clear as usual. The materials on the walls glistened in the gloomy frost of the dawn light shining nonchalantly through the fissures and cracks in the rusted hull of the walls.

Bits and droplets of dew and exposed water dripped off ledges and narrow clefts in corners or ripped metal, scored and charred. The attenuated rivulets ran in streams down the walls and dropped off to the floor after a journey from the roof to the bottom.

The reeking stench of decay flooded through our "nostrils" as we bounded closer and closer to the door standing ahead of us, so close yet so far away. I could tell from the stance Legacy was running in that he was improving his running speed as we neared, obviously wanting to feel the cool rush of fresh air on his limbs and head. The others followed after us, but Aliens like Brutal Score, a hefty Xenomorph instead of speedier, could not keep up so well. The female Xenomorphs I didn't know were closing in okay.

I rushed, not ahead of the patrol leader though, just to his side. I fell a step behind though so Barb could keep up with me. He seemed to be easily skirting the brambles and thickets of metal obstacles, possibly due to the fact he had been doing so for over seven years.

He seemed pleased when he could cope well to my pace. Although no words were passed, I could tell from his Hive Link that he was pleased. He glanced my way and smiled from what I could tell. I smiled back at him and flagged my tail, posing no immediate threat. But that would change soon depending on what we found at the human camp.

So, all of us, Xenomorphs, finally came to a close on the door and stopped to stand beside it, sniffing the borders of the hefty door and observing closely all the cracks in it that were caused by the battle two months back. Although we did have fights in-between those weeks, none of them were at the heart of the Hive like the Battle of the Refinery was. To the Xenomorphs, however, that was a prized victory and a day for us all to remember. But thanks to me killing the "Cell-tick" Predator, everyone looked at me with a shining bright light as usual, mayhap stronger than before? I needed to remind them that Nethead had a share of the killing blow himself, but they seemed to overlook that without nay a bother.

"Hmm. Seems like all is intact," Victory fared as she paced up to wall and offered it a disdainful sniff. She swept her tail in an arc as she turned to look at Barb standing beside me. "Whatever are you doing with her?"

Barb bared his teeth at the intruder. "I'm hanging out with her." At the look of Victory's face, he snarled dangerously, "She's my friend. Whatever else would I do with her? Ignore her?"

Without answering, Victory just spun away from her friend as well, growling to herself occasionally and sending scores of scrappy metal all over the place. I glanced up at Legacy Foretold as he acknowledged us with a rather… bored expression.

"So, we're clear?" he asked as he gave the door and sniff. "No human bases outside?"

I looked over his way. "Not as far as I can tell," I chuffed as I glanced at the door myself, shifting on all fours as I usually walked, how most Xenomorphs walked. Molest Tail gave herself a delightful sniff on the door, saliva dripping menacingly off her fangs. She turned and nodded to me and Legacy.

Barb snarled when he noticed Legacy talk to me, but he stayed where he was right on my side. I glanced his way and sniffed him up – his expression was unknown to me. As it was with usual, I never really knew what Barb was thinking.

"Let's get on our way," Legacy rasped as he bounded down off the ledge he had previously decided to step on. "We need to stop wasting time." He snapped out at Victory, and she hustled back, alarmed. Then she bared her teeth at the larger Xenomorph, for Legacy indeed was taller than the female archenemy I possessed.

"Don't growl at me, mongrel," she seethed, lashing her tail to-and-fro. "Or I'll snap your head off." She shoved by our patrol leader, and Legacy glared after her dangerously, but he held his ground.

Shaking his head, he padded to me and Barb and gave each of us a greeting sniff. "Let's just go," he offered as he pushed through the door to the Refinery as well. I slipped out behind my other best friend, once was just a worm-ling some months ago. Oh, how fast does time go?

Instead of the bothersome chatter of the complaining Xenomorphs, silence had thrown wings over our group as we picked our way to the top of slope. I looked up into the air and have a sniff around, but nothing seemed out of order. In fact… too normal.

"So where is this camp?" I asked Legacy as we made our way out of the Refinery and to the surrounding area, which was just to my eyes a big patch of nettles and forests.

"Somewhere on the Eastern Peak," he rasped as I followed after him, my "eyes" trained and fixed on Victory as she treaded ahead of us with her head held high. I glared at her menacingly, wanting to run over there and rip my claws down her spine, but I held my ground fiercely and continued to listen to Legacy. "The terrain has changed since the humans came. Running out of water."

We picked our way up the slope of the peak and continued on our trail. My claws dug scores in the soft soul as we made our way. I kept my position fixed on the ground ahead as we moved, legs mingling in the silence.

"Wait," I offered. "We're running out of water? I mean, I know shortages of that substance have been recalled before, but nothing like drought, if that's what you were indicating."

Legacy glanced my way with the wavering of his tail. "Yes, drought. You could call it that. I keep my gaze fixed on the landscape for signs of peril lingering over the horde. Water shortage is one of those things that may decide to leap out of the brambles all of a sudden and kill us, picking off our kind… one… by… one…"

Ignoring the undoubted trouble in his phrase, I made my way up the slope to where there would be a camp of humans. I crouched beside some bushes to keep myself steady, my tail hidden as well as my hourglass frame.

Some chatter was all I could hear. But I let Legacy slip through the cracks in the walls and offer the rest of us into it as well. Molest Tail had the hardest time getting through but she was in. Mercy Claws slithered in after the Praetorian, and Anger was right behind her all the while to make sure she was safe. Barb jumped through, his scrawny, battered, torn frame gliding easily into the vent duct we'd dumped in. Victory had waited outside patiently for the rest of us and made her way in after Barb had. Brutal Score picked himself in, and last but not least the three female Xenomorphs that had come along.

Maybe later I would ask for their names.

And so we bade on our way. This certainly was not an attack organization… but hopefully we would be able to listen. Not that we could understand human speech, but we could sense when something big was going on. A siege on the Xenomorph Hive, a plan for bombs… all that sort of things.

And so we divided ourselves up. I was relieved as Hell when we noticed that me and Victory were not going to be paired together. I had a simpler group thanks to the fact everyone, at least most of them, thought I could keep it under control. Anger nearly lashed out at Legacy until he agreed to let him be in the same patrol party as Mercy Claws.

My patrol consisted of four Xenomorphs, including me. The others were Molest Tail and two of the female Xenomorphs I did not know. After asking I now knew they were Tooth Mark and Bitter Attack. Okay, I'm not sure what to think of that.

Brutal Score, Barb, and Legacy were going into the same group-

"Wait," Victory growled, a seductive sweetness to her tone. "Let me go with that patrol." She pointed her beautiful finger at the place Legacy, Brutal Score, and Barb were perched. "I think I'll make a good edition." She slithered past Legacy Foretold and Brutal and went to hover beside Barb.

…Anyway, the other group was the last remaining female Xenomorph I did not know, Anger, and Mercy Claws. Never mind, that was the smallest group.

Legacy glanced my way with concern. "Should Molest Tail join the other group?" he asked.

Immediately, I shook my head. "No, I want to be with at least one Xenomorph I know." I regarded Bitter Attack and Tooth Mark. "No offense." I slipped to my feet and started making my way down the vent duct. "Shall we be off?"

Legacy nodded. "Come on, then." He nodded to his patrol, and I "watched" them as they subsided to the darkness.

Molest Tail, Bitter Attack, and Tooth Mark followed me down the tunnel, pressing down on all sides of the chamber. I could hear their footsteps behind me, fore-claws sending skids over the ground, tails lashing out to-and-fro. I glanced their way with ease, continuing to make my way down the tunnel, determined to figure out a plan that one of the humans here might even be thinking about.

I gestured for Molest Tail to use her Praetorian strength and rip open one of the doors surrounding us, and she wrapped her claws over the hinges and charred it right out. The rest of us dropped in.

"What's the plan?" asked Bitter Attack as we made our way through. This room was empty for the most part, except for a turned-off motion tracker, a metal table, letters, a recorder, and some containment bottles. Research jars holding captive face-huggers were positioned all over the room. One Xenomorph, dead, was bound to the ground on one of the tables, guts exposed.

_A study chamber._

Almost forgetting the question Bitter had asked me, I placed my fore-claws on the nearest table and took a quick whiff of the nearest stack of papers. Reorienting myself, I dropped back down and faced the female Warrior who was lashing her tail to the side.

"Well," I started, "this place is used for studies, and from what I can tell, it's closed and no one will come back until later. However, the papers and little things I sniff indicate someone was here just a few minutes ago, maybe thirty. Still fresh." I padded across the room to the door and watched it open, using me motions as a signal someone was trying to get through. "We take a left and follow the hallway down. Don't get left because I think there are some humans in there."

Going through the askew door waiting patiently for me, I jumped into the horizontal corridor and sniffed the air with my poor yet reliable senses. The air seemed still for all that mattered, and I nodded for Molest Tail to get through.

"From what I can tell there should be a vent duct to go through at the end of this tunnel. Let's go."

Bitter and Tooth jumped ahead of me and Molest as they continued ahead. I stayed at the rear and made sure no trouble would bade on our way. Whisking me tail, I padded through the chamber as the two female Warriors continued on their journey. My "eyes" tried to figure out movement, but from what I could tell there was none.

"We're here," said Bitter Attack as she pried the vent duct open with her claws and tossed it aside. As it flew through the air I reached up to grapple it with my claws, a sneer embedding itself on my face as I lashed out at Bitter and bared my teeth.

She scrambled back with confusion and alarm, looking everywhere, and I snarled. "We're supposed to be quiet! Had I not caught this thing, everyone would know we were here!" Letting go of the vent duct's door, carefully, I pushed it into a corner so a wandering human would not find it and get suspicious. "You're not very smart, are you?" I growled.

Bitter seemed embarrassed about her mistake, almost sad, and I started to regret my tail lash. The sizzling, dripping green blood of her was still cold on my tail blade wavering far behind me, and I gave it a flick to clear off any remains.

"No?" she growled, getting ready to jump in but I held her aside with one of my sturdier fore-claws. "Let me go!" she added, spitting and writhing all over the place.

I shoved her back, sending her skittering all over. Molest Tail and Tooth Mark said nothing, but from my attitude they seemed… shocked? I glanced their way, acknowledging their presence, but they seemed to bother little with the notion, just glaring at Bitter Attack's bleeding shape on the floor and she hissed and seethed in pain.

"She's right," Molest said as she approached the smaller Xenomorph. "Revenge should go first – she has more experience than the rest of us."

_Not more than you._

But I kept that thought in, no matter how badly I was itching to get it out. Praetorian was a rank only the highest got, not just any specially-picked female Alien. But as my claws scratched the ground in my attempt to breach that out, I ignored the overwhelming attempt and just settled aside, letting my claws hit the floor with a silent thump.

"Whatever, I guess," Bitter Attack snarled, staying behind the group.

Molest Tail sniffed disdainfully before turning to me and nodding. I got off the ground and entered the vent duct, wondering why we'd spent so much time arguing with a younger Alien.

The Praetorian I had acquainted myself with was next, and afterwards Tooth then Bitter. We pressed ourselves against the walls and made our way down the tunnels and chambers, but no matter where we skirted, all entrances to the one room I'd suggested seemed… blocked off.

_As if they were trying to prevent a Xenomorph attack._

"This won't work," I spat suddenly, whirling around to face my hesitant companions. "There has to be a way in, but this certainly isn't it." I surveyed all the walls around me but could find no shallow spots my tail would rip through. "Molest Tail, came forth."

The Praetorian approached me, crested head bowed. "Yes, Revenge Unleashed?"

I placed my claw on the top of her muzzle, however much smaller it was. "I need you to go down into the room beneath us. I smell something important in there – could you please go in there and shut if off? Whatever it may be – power, electricity, water… it needs to be off. Perhaps then one of these channels, if power-controlled, could be pried open with all of our claws."

Saliva dripped off her teeth, and she nodded to me, before backing hind-quarters-first out of the tunnel and down into the room beneath us. Bitter and Tooth pressed themselves next to my own Warrior frame as the Praetorian ordered to break something tunneled down into the chamber below.

We waited for something to break. I could detect sniffing, rustling, the subtle brushing off papers around us, until finally a loud alarm rang off as something was destroyed. Indeed, just as I had predicted, it was power.

The lights, I noticed, did go out but that did not bother me none – nor any of my other companions. I saw the Praetorian jump back in through the open slot she'd made and approach us. Her news was splendid, her wailing voice in the Hive Link going, "The power is destroyed. We now have access."

"Was the room insulated?" I asked.

"Yes, no one else heard the alarm." Molest approached the nearest remote-controlled vent blockage and pried it open with her large claws. It opened by her will, obeying her command. The door busted open and Molest Tail jumped through, her now leading the way. As we continued on we watched as she continued to burst through open doors and slash and hack at something bothering us.

Bitter scrambled to Molest and brushed her tail over the Praetorian's claws. "Wait," she rasped. "They're down there."

I shoved Tooth out of the way for a better look. The female Xenomorph hissed in reply but did not obligate. Pressing one of my claws against the metal, I snarled, "They're in there. Now, let's get a look at those papers. Remember – don't kill anyone. Or the security in this place with increase." I jammed my tail underneath the bolts like I'd done at the other base camp with Barb on my first day of existence and opened the vent.

"Let me see," Bitter Attack said as she looked down. I nearly growled at her, not appreciating these two annoying companions, but I let them do their thing and instead of being a pest I just backed up for them.

After they'd gotten a good look, I inhaled sharply and could detect the fresh musk of human in the air. But what I did not notice was Molest Tail backing out of the hole around me and slipping into the room below.

Suddenly, an alarm clicked to life. Humans looked up, and I felt their glare on the open duct and I jumped back, scrambling. I could only smell two of the others, but I didn't bother making out which ones were which as I thrust my way by them and darted down the vent duct, growling, "Come on!"

Bitter looked up in surprise, and she said something, but I wasn't quite sure what as we made haste. Tooth abandoned her friend as we all hustled to the tunnel, determined to get out of this enclosure. I nearly ran head-on into Victory as we passed Legacy Foretold's group.

"What in the name of the Hive?" she demanded as she was thrown backwards. I noticed her lift up her head to sniff the air, and her dorsal tubes began to tremble once she realized it was me. "What are you doing here?" she spat.

"Ran into you," I breathed.

Victory sneered at me. "Don't do it again," she warded, no bitterness in her tone but not friendliness either. "Or I'll scratch your snout silly."

I did as she told me to, and claws did not meet my face. "Where is the rest of your group?" I asked her.

"Got left behind," she said. "The alarm went off suddenly, and we were right in a hallway. The humans noticed us immediately and I ran into one of the nearest ducts. Not sure where the others went."

"They're okay, right?" I demanded.

Victory sniffed at me as if I had visible eyes. "How would I know?" she growled, flaring her dorsal tubes angrily. "I wasn't surveying their process from a limb. I'd thought they'd follow me, since Legacy Foretold was just scrambling around and I found a good place to run off toward."

"We need to go after them, and find them," I spat. "You were supposed to stick with them."

Claws wrapped around my throat, and I didn't fight back as Victory pressed me down, her snarl in my face, the heated warmth of her repellent breath all over my sneer. "I thought they'd follow me," she insisted, thrusting me off and sending me backwards on the floor in a wiggling mess.

"But that doesn't mean to keep it that way," I growled as I let her throw me back again. "Let's just find them. Besides, I think my group went another way was well."

Victory laughed a snarky, unpleasant snarl. "They probably died. Bitter Attack and Tooth Mark are young, younger than you." She brushed passed me and padded down the tunnel. "The closest opening is here. But be c_areful. _I don't want to have to save you from the opposition again like I did with the Yautja."

I agreed to that without hesitation and watched as she dropped out of the vent duct opening beneath us. I heard her plop onto the ground and I followed her, determined to find Legacy Foretold and Barb, but curious with how Mercy Claws and Anger were doing.

As me and my enemy ran towards a door, I watched with agony as it closed, nearly landing on top of us. Victory shoved me ahead and I landed awkwardly as the door crunched down, blocking the entrance to the next door.

"By the Matriarch, what is going on here?" I heard the female Xenomorph snarl as she slammed against the metal door. "We're being shut out by someone." She stared down the tunnel and had to open another duct in it or else we'd have no way through.

The next door, the meeting room, was a mess. As I entered, I smelled death all around and I withdrew, backing up. But from what I could tell, all I saw was a body hanging limp on the table, blown to smithereens.

"That must have been Long Chop," Victory said as she stopped.

_I guess that was the other Xenomorph I didn't know._

"Pity," she sniffed as she continued on. I glared at her with a look of shocked surprise, and she turned to snarl at me as I was reluctant to move on. "What are you waiting for? There is no time for a proper memorial! Let's go!" Hoisted onto my feet and kept moving, Victory led the way down the next door.

I raced after as we continued down the corridors. Locked doors continue to block our path, and I snarled in frustration as my head collided on with a door. The metal smacked me all over, and I was soon sprawled on the floor with Victory nudging me up again.

"I don't need help!" I snarled at her, but she bared her teeth at me dangerously. And beneath my exoskeleton, I was privately grateful, but I would never share that with her. Not in a million lifetimes, I wouldn't.

As the next door nearly slammed over her fore-claw, Victory retorted, "Who is closing all these doors?" Without waiting for my response, I watched her as she jumped into the nearest vent duct and went up. Since there was no choice really, all I could do was follow, and that was what I did. Using my exception hearing, I listened to where she padded around the top of the duct to the control room.

There was a sort of wrestling sound beneath me as I heard Victory lunge for the ground. I stopped at the top of the tunnel and looked down, and smelled out to see who she had grasped but Victory vocalized that first…

"It's her!" Victory snarled. "She's the one closing all the doors up! She's helping the humans!"

Using my weak senses, I sniffed out beneath the enemy…

Molest Tail.

"No!" I screamed. "Traitor!" Fury sent my back spikes bristling up as I utter a fearsome roar, saliva and other remains of stinky human parts scattering all over the floor.

Molest Tail, being bigger than Victory, easily threw off the Warrior Dome. I watched as my enemy smacked into the ground and wailed in pain, writhing angrily.

"Yes," the Praetorian snarled, standing on her twos again and walking forward to the control panel, smashing her six-fingered fist into the button. "And there is nothing you can do to stop me. I finally have all the legendary Xenomorphs here, and with the humans escaping from me closing you out and giving them a way to exit, this place will explode, and you will all be trapped inside."

I shook my head. "What? How could you?"

"I have longed for this moment forever," bristled Molest Tail as she continued with her process of blowing up the building. "Next will be Number 6… then Nethead… then…" I watched the smile creep up on her face.

"The Matriarch."

Victory could hear no more. She screeched, louder than anything I'd ever heard, and she turned to look at me with a grin as well.

"Let's reduce this bastard, and after we are done with her, use her mangled carcass to sweep up her blood on the floor."


	6. Chapter 6

By the time I had charged forward to assist Victory in the death of Molest Tail the traitorous Praetorian, the building rumbled and I fell down flat on my face.

Regaining my consciousness, I saw Victory do the same as well, sprawled in a heap on the floor. She snarled savagely as she watched Molest start towards the open vent duct for her getaway, her massive size and demeanor keeping her balanced.

I thrust off the ground and snarled right along with my enemy as the Praetorian subsided to the darkness overhead. Although I knew how fast I was, there was no way in Hell I would be able to keep up with the Hive's finest.

"We need to get the others out of here," Victory coughed, leaping to the duct Molest had used to escape. "Let's go." She offered me one of her fore-claws, and agilely, I snatched it.

Helped up into the narrow corridor, we took the way opposite of the Hive's betrayer, and started out by calling the names of our comrades. It took a while, but Barb and Legacy Foretold's tired rasps shook the sky.

"Down here," Victory ordered, shoving me into the closest room.

I fell down on the floor with a silent thud and looked up, my tail whisking. Standing ahead of me was Barb, Legacy, and a dead Brutal Score. The rumblings had obviously shaken loose some obstacles overhead, and the heftier Xenomorph had not been fast enough.

I could compare it to the way Mercy Claws' father died, the first Xenomorph I had ever seen crushed and killed before. It was thanks to a Marine named Rookie.

"You're here," Barb breathed into my muzzle, and for a moment I felt comforted by him but Victory's silent, furious glare retreated me back. Barb seemed puzzled for a moment as if I rejected him, but I shot a look at Victory and he seemed to understand.

After Barb's warm gesture, Legacy seemed uncomfortable. "Should we be going?" he demanded impatiently, a sneer fixed on his snout. "I think we should be."

Victory, the most graceful, slender, and beautiful of the four of us nodded and thrust her way back to the open duct. "There are still others we have to find. Unless Anger, Mercy Claws, Tooth Mark, and Bitter Attack are dead… then there is no one else we have left."

"Wait," said Barb. "That's only four. Brutal Score died, I know that, but does that mean that both Long Chop and Molest Tail are dead? The Praetorian died?"

Victory seemed pleased this topic was on hand, and also infuriated. Muffling the growl out of her throat from which I could tell, I saw her shift numbly on the tile floor beneath her. "Molest Tail is a traitor," she started. "She was helping the humans to escape and her intentions to keep us trapped in here. We need the rest of you to get out, fast."

Legacy spoke this time. "Did you kill her?" he asked.

"Unfortunately not," the graceful Warrior Dome inhaled. "She fled like a coward to the nearest available exit. Now, we need to stop wasting time, there are four others we still have left to find, and so little time left to do it."

When she turned to leave, I helped up Barb and Legacy Foretold into the chamber of the vent duct and followed after them, bristling my dorsal tubes as I kept a sharp "eye" on the lookout for trouble. But the only immediate threat I could sense as of right now was the fact we were all going to get blown up.

So, Victory, me, Legacy, and Barb all raced the hallways, calling for the names of Bitter Attack, Tooth Mark, Mercy Claws, and Anger. However, our lucky dwindled as far as I noticed because they did not respond.

"They all can't be dead," I seethed, flaring the dorsal tubes on my back. "There must be some way."

Legacy gave me an acknowledging flick of his tail. "Mayhap," he growled. "But they might not hear us, either."

"Should we split up?" Barb butted in, claws sending scores all over the place.

I shook my head. "No," I rasped. "We could get lost, and then we would have no choice but to leave you behind. The best thing we can do as of right now is stay as close together as Xenomorph-ly possible."

Victory nodded her head at me, and I felt an unwelcome sense of pride in myself. "She's right," the beautiful Xenomorph spat. "We need to stay close to one another. But if you can, try to speak a little louder so if they can't in fact hear you, they start can hearing you." She lifted up her head to screech, and Barb and I followed. Legacy seemed reluctant to listen, but he finally obliged.

And so, at the word of Victory we did just that. I raised my voice a higher octave, and then could hear the silent humming the back of my head.

"Revenge!"

No one else seemed to hear it, and their loud voices were clogging my train of thought. Lashing out at Legacy Foretold to quiet him, I sensed where the voice was starting to come out of.

"Revenge! Are you guys there?"

I burst open the side of the vent duct and jumped down into the room below. I sniffed through the piles of rubble, knowing that I could hear Mercy Claws' voice through this thicket. The others seemed confused but were following my lead. I was not aware if they knew how great my sense of hearing was.

"There!" I raised myself on two of my feet and pried loose some debris on top of a crushed Anger and Mercy Claws. Anger had taken more of the damage, I could tell, because he was on top of Mercy in a defensive position to protect her.

Victory seemed disgusted, Barb seemed wary, and Legacy seemed to pay the two no heed as I helped them up out of the scrap pile.

"What happened to Bitter Attack and Tooth Mark?" I asked.

Feebly, Mercy pointed to the corner of the room, and I saw two severed Xenomorph shapes huddled in the corner. They had not died from humans, I realized with a new sense of fury. Those were claw marks, and looks of horror and surprise on their face.

_Molest Tail did this…_

"How did it happen?" Anger asked as he lifted up his head and sniffed to get a better peek at the bodies lying limp in the corner.

Victory bristled with rage. "It was that mongrel Molest! The Praetorian! She was a traitor to our Hive. And if we don't get moving soon, this place will blow up. Grab Mercy Claws and help her. I want to jump ahead and claw the brain out of the Molest Tail!"

I snatched onto the female Xenomorph's tail and pulled her back in like a reel. She lashed out at me, and I barreled beneath her offensive strike. "Calm down," I ordered, but as usual she barely listened to me.

"Why should I?" she spat. "That mongrel should be wiped out! She did not only try to trap us in, she killed two innocent worm-lings! You expect that death to be taken easily, Revenge?"

Shaking my head vigorously, I let go of Victory's tail and let her refurnish herself. "I understand that Molest Tail should be killed, but you even said so yourself – we have to stick together."

Victory seethed. "Fine. But as soon as I find that betraying excuse of a Praetorian I will personally rip out her tail and shove the blade down her throat and strangle her to death, smiling the whole way. Then I will do as promised and I will wipe her mangled corpse on the ground. And when this happens, you _will not stop me!" _

I let Victory have the last word, and she lashed out at me with a fast six-fingered hand before charging back into the lead again.

Noticing that we hadn't much time left to waste anymore, I helped Anger push Mercy Claws to her feet and I herded both of them to the vent duct. "So that's the last of us?" I asked as I pushed the two in. "We can get out of here?"

"And find that traitorous mongrel," Victory snarled. "If we can't find her, then the Hive should be put on full alert."

I nodded. "Agreed," I reasoned. "That sounds fair. At least Molest Tail should get the justice she deserves. Bring her to peace."

Victory growled in rage. "Peace? After all that traitor has done, I'm pretty sure peace is off the table."

I held in my "tongue" from sneering at her, "Ignorant louse," but I just shook off the feeling for violence and started off after her, instead saying, "She didn't do that much, if you think about it."

The female Xenomorph spun around to face me, teeth bared. "What are you talking about, Revenge Unleashed? She did plenty! Killing our own Hive? That's downright murder! I hope this mongrel dies in a brutal, painful way."

I spun around at her and snapped, sending her skirting away like a coyote, just out of reach, but still close enough for me to smell her reeking breath on my sneering face. "Do not wish the death of anyone," I growled.

"But I do for her," Victory retorted, before shoving me away and continuing to pace down the slope of the hill.

I hated how she always gets the last word. For it seems whatever I do, I can never have the final statement with her.

Legacy brushed his tail across my back spikes with a smile. "Don't pay any attention to her," he soothed. I looked up at him and sighed. "What you told me two months ago was right – she is as jealous as a lion without a large mane. Just ignore her."

If that was my decision, I wouldn't know what else to do.

So, I decided to take Legacy's advice and just ignore the rascal Victory. What an annoying, arrogant, fox-heart. We pried open the doors as the place was exploding. Things all around started to rattle, objects on observation tables fell with a clatter, and I helped the rest of us out and shoved then all out the door.

We were nearly ten paces away when the building blew up. Luckily no debris shot us down on our way, but Legacy Foretold got an ugly piece of metal stuck in his foot. As he received his wound, he yelped in pain, staggering backwards with shock.

I made sure he was okay before we continued on, bleeding and limp, staying on the tracks we'd made beforehand of the invasion. This search mission had turned to massacre.

"I wonder," I pried, "what the Matriarch will say when we tell her that Molest Tail was a traitor."

Barb, ahead of me, shrugged his shoulders casually, although his limp and reeling pace as obvious enough to me. "Probably won't be happy," he guessed. "I know I wouldn't be if there was a betrayer in my Hive."

"Certainly not," Anger agreed, flagging his tail darkly. "But who the heck cares right now? The most important thing is if Mercy gets back safe."

If I had eyes, I would have rolled them. Oh, boy.

And so we all trotted back to the Refinery, which was not very far away. I smelled our scents, so we must have been close. The rusted metal walls and dark objects all seemed in place, but inside, my head was placing things were they didn't belong.

Victory led the way inside, her head bowed low and chatting quietly to Barb. I wasn't sure what they were saying, and I didn't know if I wanted to either, so I just stepped aside and let them do their thing. Besides, what would I have even said?

We filed into the metal structure, Anger with Mercy Claws, me with Legacy, and Victory and Barb together. There should have been five other Xenomorphs with us, but over half of them were gone.

Once we reached the inside of the rusted building, I could sense everyone's surprise. I spotted Number 6 in the corner and remembered my summoning, which I would get to later if I had the time. But even the legendary Praetorian seemed shocked, the ruff of spikes on the back of her neck flared with tense surprise.

Murmurs started to spill around the Aliens. Some questioned why we looked so sullen and injured, while most asked what had happened, and some bothered with even why a Praetorian had died in the mess.

Number 6 decided to jump off her ledge and approach us, her tail wavering to-and-fro. "What in the name of the Matriarch is going on?" she spat.

Barb slithered forward, careful not to approach the massive female Praetorian too close. "Ask the Matriarch to gather the entire Hive," he panted. "This is important."

Something other than anger crossed Number 6's face, but she jumped back up into the tunnel overhead of us that lead to the Matriarch's chamber, the same one I had used while leaving her two months ago after killing the "Cell-tick" Predator.

"This is intense," breathed Mercy Claws. "May I see to a resting spot? I'm injured."

Two heftier Xenomorphs approached the battered, eight-foot female Warrior and carried her off. Anger, at the notion of his crush getting away from his sight, bounded after them. For a while he succeeded, but he was stopped once they reached the interior of the Hive's medical bay. Anger said something grumpily about being protective of her, but I decided not to eavesdrop and just focused my attention elsewhere.

Number 6 jumped back through the tunnel and beckoned for the Hive to follow. In case no one saw her, she spat, "The Matriarch acquires our presence. Follow me."

I saw Silence Within look to me questioningly, but I shrugged her off and motioned with my head for her just to follow. The more-elderly Xenomorph nodded before following Number 6 with her head and tail held low.

I made sure every Xenomorph was well enough through the tunnel before I ducked in, followed by the survivors of the patrol. This was going to be an astonishing announcement for everyone to hear. I figured they would not like to know every single thing we were going to have to say.

"Who wants to tell them?" Anger asked as he caught up to us in the tunnel. "There's only five of us who can."

I shrugged. "We should split it," I offered. "But everyone will be shaken up that Molest Tail betrayed us and she killed two three-week old Aliens."

Anger growled, the spikes on his ruff bristling furiously. "That traitorous bastard! And to think! She's a Praetorian, one of the Hive's most trusted. How did that come to happen?"

Again, I repeated my gesture. "Not sure," I responded. "I'll talk to some of the other Praetorians later and see if they were noticing any strange behavior. Those girls are the Hive's finest – they won't lie to me. They're smarter than that."

Anger sneakily grinned. "Or they'll die."

"Yes," I said with a smirk of my own. "They'll die."

We filed out after a bunch of Aliens ahead of us, careful for them not to hear our conversation. We just kept easily behind them, treading on through the undergrowth with our heads bent low and tails scraping the ground. Some of the Xenomorphs ahead of us turned to look back at our patrol, then just shrugged off the urge to say something and continued on their journey ahead.

"So," Barb said as he limped down the path. "We split the speech?"

I nodded. "Yes. Who wants to go first?"

Legacy Foretold finally said something, limping for his fore-claw was still pierced with metal. "I will." We all turned to look at him, and he added with bared teeth, "I was the patrol leader."

Barb nodded. "Good point," he conceded.

"Now," I hissed. "Everyone quiet."

As soon as we stepped out of the tunnel, everyone's gaze was fixed on us. Although we all had no eyes to visually look at something, I could tell from their stunned silence that they were startled, stirred. But not shaken. That was good.

_But they will be once we tell them this._

The Matriarch turned to look at us, her crested head rumbling about in her anger. Her prehensile tail bristled darkly, and with a feral snarl she invited us up all ahead of, but in front of the hundreds of Xenomorphs standing below.

As we all walked up, I spotted a few of my friends – Fallen Despair, Phenomenon Unknown, Mercy Claws, who was invited, and Silence Within, who helped me my first day as a worm-ling by giving me some entrails.

_Alright, _the Matriarch spat. _These five have something to tell us. So, how did your trip to the human base go?_

Legacy nervously fumbled around for a moment, his long tail swinging on the ground. "Horribly," he started. "The eleven of us that went – me, Revenge Unleashed, Victory, Barb, Mercy Claws, Anger, Brutal Score, Molest Tail, Bitter Attack, Tooth Mark, and Long Chop – we were all there in the beginning, working together fine.

"When we arrived at our destination – the human base – we split ourselves into groups to determine some information. The groups were Revenge, Bitter Attack, Tooth Mark, and Molest Tail, mine being me, Victory, Barb, and Brutal Score. The last group was of Mercy Claws, Anger, and Long Chop.

"So we split up, each taking a path into the base. We had no idea what we were to brace ourselves for. But the real news…" He turned to look at me. "Belongs to Revenge Unleashed."

A chaotic screech of Xenomorphs sounded below, then silence.

I stepped up, taking the invitation. "Be prepared for something you won't be," I snarled. "When we got there to watch the humans, Molest Tail slipped away without warning any of us. We didn't notice her absence, and we took off running. I met up Victory.

"We decided to go and find the humans. If we could stop them, then maybe they couldn't get away. So, somehow, we were running down the tightly-packed corridors, but whenever we fleeted around a corner, one of the doors was always to close nearly on top of us."

Victory stepped in. "Obviously trying to kill us. But by blocking our way, the humans were having a chance of escape. So I decided to go into the vent duct, to the control room, and figure out what was going on.

"And when I wedged myself between the pillars, and lunged at my enemy – it was a shocking experience, mind you – I realized with a stab of fury that the person I had pounced upon was… Molest Tail!"

Screeches met her words.

"That's not all," Barb conceded as he stepped in. "From what I know, Molest Tail escaped and ran off, leaving us to the exploding building. She planned on this for a long time, was what Victory told me she said. She plans on killing the Matriarch!"

More screams of rage.

"So Victory and the rest found us. We went off to find Anger and Mercy Claws. Brutal Score died because of the falling building. He was plotted beneath a 'T.V'. I tried to save him but it was too late."

Anger spoke up. "So I and Mercy Claws were hidden away. We were found, but outside of the room we were trapped in I heard screams of pain. It was Bitter Attack and Tooth Mark. I thought they were being crushed.

"But it was far too late. When were realized what had actually happened, when the rest got there, we realized it was not a crushing like Brutal Score. It was… Molest Tail that had killed the two worm-lings."

It was then that all Hell broke loose.

Xenomorphs, everywhere, were screeching and throwing their fists at the air to pummel in with massive strikes. Tails glided around, and I swear I had to dodge beneath one to make sure I didn't get scalped.

Victory reeled back, staggering wildly. She shot me a reproachful look, as if I started fireworks on the third of July instead of fourth.

Barb and Legacy immediately backed up as they all went back. Anger backed up from the stage where he'd been talking and started shivering for some reason. I almost ran into the Matriarch was how far back I'd tumbled.

_Silence! _roared the Matriarch. _Let them finish!_

Everyone did go still and silent, lashing their tails, but they kept their glares on us. Number 6 staggered a bit, and I smiled at her. The fury in her glare was enough to make even Victory back up a nudge.

Nethead seemed shocked, then looked down for a moment as if betrayal was worst thing we faced thus far.

Anger looked at the Matriarch with a dull but grateful look, then addressed the Aliens below, hissing furiously with bared teeth, "That is all we have to say. The rest of the decision relies on the Queen."

Everyone left the center-of-attention alone and peered at the Matriarch, standing just behind me.

_We need to prepare. Everyone in Molest Tail's bloodline shall be destroyed – to make sure there are no more. Revenge Unleashed, I want you to do that whenever you get the chance to._

"Me?" I asked, fumbling over my paws a bit. "Why should I do that?"

_Humans, Revenge Unleashed, the Warrior that Disobeys. Humans. That do it to make sure that their members are not soft._

"We are not humans!" I roared furiously.

_Aha, but they are clever. I think this a perfect chance to prove your loyalty is to killing off your own kind that dwells from within._

I screeched with rage. "This is madness! No Xenomorph in the right mindset would murder someone of the same blood."

_They might have the same betrayal genes. I have no choice, Revenge. Do it or you _will die!

I snarled hideously at her, before ducking my head with acknowledgement and hissed, "Fine, whatever."

And so, after our bicker, she addressed everyone else. She said for the next few weeks we would be staying indoors for the most part and adding defenses to the Hive. We would switch jobs every day.

Work.

It was new to me, for sure. Nothing like the thrill of the hunt, however. More the boredom of preparing walls. Whatever the Matriarch had in mind of hiding from, I had borne no intention of finding out.

And so, just as I mentioned to Legacy and the others, I was to talk to some Praetorians about the matter. Any strange behavior? Then I had to kill Molest Tail's kin.

This was going to be fun.

I limped across the clearing to where a few of the massive Aliens were. I was, I had to admit, sort of apprehensive of their presence – they were dangerous, large, and strong. I was not even half of their size. If they ever so kindly wanted to, they could throw me to scraps. That was why Victory could not battle off Molest Tail easily. It takes about four, well-trained Xenomorphs to stop a Praetorian.

Trust me, they're tough.

One of them looked up, their crested head shimmering the low lighting of the Hive. She was graceful and beautiful, even better looker than Molest Tail. She had a faint hue of purple and emerald green on her skin, and even the faintest traces of light blue. She bore teeth that snarled with drool dripping off of them savagely. Still, even that beauty was not even a fly to Victory's intense might, power, virtue, poise, and charm.

I limped forward to her, addressing her the right way. It was unwise to startle or alarm a Praetorian, or you might die or get a serious injury. It frightened me, almost, how much power this rare species had within the Hive.

A terrifying sense wreathed around them, nothing like with what the Matriarch had, but it was the same. A raw, dense power that ebbed off of them like they were the crystals in the temple, ready to battle and slaughter and slay. A power that made a Xenomorph bow down to you in its presence. It was with this very power that these Praetorians got so much respect and control – their sense of power. It almost lured Aliens into following you, like a spell they could not break.

And so I approached them all – four in total. The one that looked up scratched out at the one standing closest to her, and she looked up as well. Her scarred, battered features were dangerous, but not pretty.

"What do you want?" the gallant one snarled, lashing her tail, the snarl clear on her bared teeth. "If this has something to do with work, go away."

_Certainly not friendly, like Molest Tail when I first met her._

I shook my head, sitting down on the pavement coolly. I tried to make my flat voice match hers, but for her being a Praetorian, she had a much deeper, scratchier voice, more like a boulder tumbling down a mountain instead of the common Xenomorph rock-on-rock.

"I come to ask you about Molest Tail."

The scarred one laughed, taking the place of the pretty one. "What would we know about her? You were the one with her when she betrayed the Hive."

I flexed my claws, belittling their arrogance. "I pester you for the behavior she displayed before her betrayal. What was she like? Was anything mysterious or suspicious going on? Any noticeable change in her poise?"

A kinder-looking Praetorian shook her head, overcoming the reaction of the pretty and scarred ones. "I did notice something, I guess. I didn't bother confronting her about it – I thought it might have been something, you know, personal, like she found a new mate or something. Everyone changes stance when they find their special someone."

Flicking my tail, I pressed, "What was she doing so wrong to you?"

The friendly Praetorian continued to shake her head, a second time. "No, no – not to me, she didn't do anything wrong. To everyone else. Sometimes she would slink back into the shadows and wait for something, and like I said – I thought she might have found a mate to be happy with. So I bothered little with stepping in the way. Why would I have wanted to come across a happy moment for her? We were never close, and all, but I know better than to trouble a happy Alien."

Feeling as if they was enough information, my gaze flitted to the other Praetorians sitting around her. The only one that had not spoken to my questions yet was a young-looking one, as if recently made a warrior of such a high ranking the Hive. The scarred one looked the eldest of them, along with the pretty one. The young one just kept her head bowed and didn't meet my gaze.

"Okay," I continued, looking at the scarred one this time. "Were any of you close to Molest Tail? Like, a personal friend?"

The pretty one remained silent, glancing at the scarred one as she was asked a question. However, instead of the scarred one mentioning her reply, it was indeed the pretty one. "I was. I suppose I was moved by her betrayal. I always lured her into the darkness, but I never wanted her to go against her own kind. It sort of like it had something to do with me – as if I was the one responsible for it."

The scarred one's demeanor changed and she looked soft all of a sudden, and she pressed a cold tail into the flank of her friend. "Don't blame yourself," she whispered softly, her scratchy, rough voice trembling for the safety of her friend. "We didn't know what was going to happen."

I looked at the scarred one. "Were you Molest Tail's friend, too?"

Changing her attitude again, the scarred one hissed and bared her teeth, spitting out, "No, I wasn't. But I am her friend, so I did consider Molest Tail an alliance, of a sort. I never bothered to hang out with her or anything, but if she asked me to do something, I did it, in a… friendly sort of way."

Turning my attention back on the pretty one, I asked her, "So, did you notice any strange behaviors that Molest Tail was having?"

Nodding, the pretty one responded curtly, "Yes, I did. Most certainly, really. I didn't believe it was her finding a mate, though, I thought she was just getting to the point of all Praetorians, thinking she's all that. A feeling that will pass with time, but none of them ever did what she did. She was all suspicious, and she always kept her head down and low to the ground as if she was hiding something. I confronted her about it, I was her friend, but she always said nothing was wrong and that I was the one that needed to be checked."

"Sounds rude," I spat.

"Mayhap," the pretty one said. "So I just paid it no heed. I decided to get back to my own. She never was really much closer to anyone else, so I knew it had nothing to do with my friendship. Whenever something really was wrong, she always came crawling back to me for advice. She also seemed more violent, but in front of legends…" she looked me up and down, "or considered legends, she always acted more sweet and kind."

Hissing, I snarled, "Yes, I noticed that. She was very friendly to me. I supposed she didn't want to make a wrong impression."

The pretty one glared at me. "She was trying to spot your weaknesses, I believe. See what you feared, hated, loved, and was better at. Did that to all of them."

Instead of just thinking in my head, the pretty one, the scarred one, the silent one, and the friendly one, I decided instead, "What are your names?"

The scarred one retorted mildly, "I am Deep Wound." She gestured to the pretty one and cast out, "That is Gallant Trot." Then she pointed to the friendly one with her tail, "That is Dead Sneer." She gave the tail a last look at towards the silent one. "And that is Wither Downcast."

I acknowledged each of them, Wither Downcast growled at me and crossed her arms. It was rare I ever saw a Xenomorph using human motives. But again, Praetorians did mostly just walk on their hind legs, so crossing their fore-claws was a way of showing their anger, I supposed.

Gallant Trot whacked Wither with her tail, and the silent Praetorian yelped in surprise. After that, the nastier Gallant Trot turned back to me with a sneer. "That's all the suspicious stuff I know," she finished.

"Well," I started, "thank you, for sharing with me that information. I appreciate it. Now, did any of the others of you find anything weird or out of place?"

Deep Wound and Wither shook their crested heads and turned away from me.

"I best be leaving you off to attend to yourselves then," I muttered. "Again, thank you, I really do appreciate it." I smiled at them with a warm smile, but again Gallant Trot just sneered at me and lashed her tail darkly.

"Whatever," the Praetorian seethed before looking back to her group. "Just get lost before you get on my nerves… like you haven't done already."

I snarled at her and turned away. It was time for me to get to the killing I had to do. But first I needed to figure out wherever the heck Molest Tail's kin were. This, I knew, was going to be very difficult.

_We're not humans! _I seethed, remembering what the Matriarch had said, arguing with me in front of the entire Hive.

So, I padded out into the space. Victory was organizing the patrols. I watched as her tail lashed once she saw me, and she bared her own teeth at me, and I returning the glare. Finally, for once, she just spun away from me and held her head high.

I didn't bother growling back at her, but I just raked my claws over the ground and snorted. She continued to boss some more people around in her nice, commanding voice that she acquired that I wasn't even sure was confident anymore.

Legacy was sitting on a pole to my right with his tail wrapped around his paws. He saw me and snorted – then turned around and continued to look on. I waved my tail in greeting and he repeated my action, the smile clear on his face at how happy he was that I was in his near presence.

Pressing on, I looked through the tunnels, determined to ask where the siblings of Molest Tail were. It was going to be hard for me to kill those Xenomorphs. I hoped they were younger so they didn't put up much fight.

However, if they were loyal Aliens, they would let me slit their throat, because they wouldn't be able to kill off the whole Hive even if they managed to get me.

I kept my head down as I patrolled the corridors. Surely these Xenomorphs had known of my arrival. Perhaps they tried to escape, and maybe some of their friends to help them. I knew that Xenomorph deaths weren't taken lightly.

Maybe indeed the hunted-downs one had taken for the night. They were to be living off of palm fronds to Weyland-Yutani as well as mammal meat, not human, and scavenging through cobblestones and other sorts of varying things. Hiding would not be as easy, and they were bound to die with a Matriarch's Call, anyway. If they could even escape the Matriarch's Call, that is.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

What is that? Well, you wonder how Xenomorphs all seem so loyal. The Matriarch has indeed, a Call, which is hard for a Xenomorph to simply walk away from. Their loyalties are unbound. Don't even mention Molest Tail.

She was either really easily able to leave through the bonds, or she found a way to break it.

I'm not about to ask.

And so, I continued on my searching trek. It was already long as it was, and the moon was beginning to slip into the sky as the sun faded. I don't need to be outside to know this – my senses tell me this, my instinct. As it does for all other Xenomorphs. We very easily know day from night, unlike humans, which need windows in order for them to see out of. Don't you prefer the indoors?

I asked a few others where they might be, or even if they simply knew some sisters and brothers of Molest Tail's. I know the Matriarch's decision was harsh, but she was right, we could not have bad blood in our ranks, for more bad blood to come right along with it. We needed to delete the systematical error from its core, not its backup link.

The areas were clear, just as I had suspected. Every Alien must be sitting below the killing pile talking to their friends about the news. Later on, we were about to start the long haul of work in the Hive, to prepare for the wrath of a Praetorian.

Now, as an educated individual, I know personally that Praetorians should not be something to mess with alone. Hopefully Molest Tail didn't find a neighboring Hive and ask them for help, or else we might have a real problem here. But Xenomorph Hives hardly ever intersect, it is a rare occasion of roughly one about every two thousand.

Only a few cracks of the dusk light was seeping in through the fissures on the rough walls of the intact parts of the Refinery, closed-in and secure. My tail stayed low by my side as I kept my head ducked and slowly walked on. A deep feeling that none of Molest Tail's siblings had stayed overwhelmed me so badly I wanted to go to a hole and die. But I didn't do that, just kept on my way. Besides, this was my duty, and I wasn't allowed to abandon it, or death would surely come. Only until I figured out if Molest Tail's siblings ran off, I had to keep looking.

I saw only a few Xenomorphs every once in a while in the darkness this far to the edge of the Refinery. When they saw me, I knew that they probably already had the information that I was to be the executioner, so as I passed them, they bared their teeth at me frightfully, then backed away into a hole lingering not far around. I glanced their way with clenched teeth, not wanting the role the Matriarch had dropped unwillingly at my feet. She was the real, sadistic Alien here.

"You're here for them, aren't you?" growled one of the Xenomorphs I was now passing, his tail raised in a tail for attack. "For – us."

I turned on him in a quick second, my ruff glared in a threatening posture. "So," I spat, my voice low. "You're one of them, one of Molest Tail's siblings. Why don't you make this easier for me, disease-blooded?"

The male Xenomorph, twice my height, snarled in my face, his saliva dripping off of the metallic teeth in his mouth. "I was never referred to that before my sister's betrayal. Her actions are not mine! I am as loyal as a Warrior can get. If you question loyalty, take a look at your own heart, not mine!"

My claws curled over the metal I was standing on, my gaze cleared on the angry Alien. "Unfortunately, the Matriarch's word is law, and her word states all the siblings of the traitorous one are brought to death. That is the way we do things."

He snarled. "But I'm not disloyal!"

Smirking, I got up on two feet and glared at him, my tail waving slightly as I took a confident step towards him. "Then it's a bad day to be you, isn't it, disease-blood?"

The Alien growled. "I won't go down without a fight. Let me prove my loyalty to you and the rest of the Hive by bringing down their favorite pet." Without further delay, he lunged at me with outstretched claws.

For a Warrior, he was strong. Males tended to be weaker than females, which explains the reason all the females rule the Hive and become stronger classes by evolution to Praetorians, which only makes them stronger. I was soon feeling his weight crashing into me and holding me against the iron floor of the Refinery, a smirk on his face, his claws pinning me down.

Thrashing beneath him, I wormed one of my hind legs frees and kicked him off, sending him skirting across the clearing and into a nearby wall. Regaining his consciousness, he growled, "Strong for someone so young."

I took this as a pretty opportune moment to attack. I used the wall to further my leap and strengthen my push, and I soon breathed into his face as I held him against the metal, "Don't struggle, it'll be over soon."

The Warrior placed two hefty fore-claws over my shoulders and worked me back a bit, then jammed his tail into my ribcage. I squealed in pain, letting go of my attacker and hovering back to a safe distance from him. My opponent gasped and clutched one of his arms as he slowly got back to his feet, some acid blood pooling beneath him. He watched the steaming rivulets of life-source flowing from him, then he turned back to me and snarled with death.

His weakness encouraged me, but I wondered how much of them I had left after this one, if I even survived this one.

Glaring at him, I snarled, "The Hive will dance to the music of your screams."

The fury in his glare almost startled me. I really meant nothing I was saying, I felt sympathy for this poor thing, but I knew the Matriarch was watching and I could not be kind to him. So I bared my teeth back at him, blocking fear, and I crouched over, my tail lashing side-to-side briefly. I had to look ferocious for the Matriarch, so she and Number 6 couldn't still think I was weak.

He took this moment to attack and he jumped down at me, but I barreled to the left and wheeled under his strike; soon he was sprawled over the metal with a stuck tail embedded in the metal that he had misplaced with his uneven leap.

Seeing this as a good chance, I lunged for him while he could hardly fight back and I grabbed his tail, still stuck in the metal. I wrapped my fore-claws around it and started to pull it up, peeling off the exoskeleton and revealing organs with the serrated iron. My attacker squealed as I exposed the unprotected part and stabbed it into metal, cutting his tail clean off.

Staggering, now free, but losing his balance, the Xenomorph growled at me. I took another moment for a chance and I grabbed him by his cut-off tail and I started to swing him around and around in circles, smashing him into all sorts of walls and jagged things. I pummeled his head with my mighty fists, snarling in his face as I did so. Then, I stopped with the crashing and held him against a wall, using my dangerous tail to wrap around a piece of metal, then inserted it through his body and into the wall, officially holding him in that position, and then continued until he was immobilized.

He squealed at me, trying to cut me, but he was stuck in the wall, hanging by well-dug pieces of rusted metal. "So," I growled, getting on two legs then bending over to pick up another piece of serrated iron from the ground. "How do you choose to die?"

My attacker thrashed, letting off high-pitched growls and squeaks, blood streaming from his open wounds and refusing to close up. "I don't want to die, I'm loyal!"

I lunged at my opponent and jabbed the metal in his face, sending a spirt of acid blood on my face and dripping menacingly off my chin, landing with splashes on the ground. I held my face close to his and hissed darkly, "Not an option!" I backed away from him a little bit, then turned back and smiled. "If you can't think of one, I'll decide."

Twisting the metal in my fingers, I approached where he was pinned against the wall, flipping the iron until it was placed with the sharp end up and to my attacker's body. As much as I didn't want to do this, I knew I had to.

He started to beg for his life and cry out as I took steps closer to him. I put the metal on the back of his cylinder head, right in the center, and inserted it a bit. He thrashed, growling this time to hold his pain back. Then, I started to saw down his head, still maintaining my accurate-aimed precision on the middle of his head. Like dissecting a frog, I continued to cut down the center of his cranium, and his pitiful cries soon became miserable wails of deafening agony.

Soon, as I ended with his fore-head, there were two flaps for me to pick open and spread out. I do so, as he still lived, and held him open there on the wall like a lab toy to be studied. His organs and life-source were all now exposed to me, and I smiled a little bit, though felt sick inside.

I repeated the procedure with his stomach and rib cage, opening him up and displaying him out to me. I ripped through the bones and exoskeleton that made up his rib cage, a horrible crunching to accompany my sick feeling. I felt like throwing up my insides. By the Hive, this was gross.

He wailed and thrashed in misery, but I did nothing to stop. I dropped the metal that cut open his head and belly and chest, readjusting the pins that held his skin apart so it wouldn't close up. I backed up and found a decently-sized piece of machinery that looked decently close to a big log of wood in the forest that could pound his head in. I balanced it in my seizure, then hobbled to him carefully.

"Why did you have to do this?" he wailed, his head and entire body open, his organs beating and blood slashing from his cranium.

"Because I had to," I replied, then battered out the Hell from him with the log of machinery, eventually pounding it so far into his jaw that it broke. Seeing the dangling mandibular bone, I grabbed it and just ripped it off, shoving the machinery into his mouth violently. After giving him the appropriate pounding, I slammed the big piece of metal into the exposed part of his head, turning all of the organs and brains inside of his head to mush. He still lived, to my surprise, and he squealed. To finish off the job, I stepped back a bit, then slammed the machinery into the exposed stomach, potentially turning all those organs to mush, too.

He breathed in and out for a moment or two more, then he stilled and hung there. The disease-blood had died.

I backed away from the dripping body, my blood pounding. I had successfully killed one of my own kind, and I felt like I was going to throw up. But I held my insides in, thankfully, and just walked away from the scene, but took one more glance back at his body that didn't even look any more like it was once a Warrior of this Hive.

It felt sort of like I had committed a crime, but I had done as the Matriarch had requested, and more to go. This executioner thing was harder and harder for me, but I sucked in my gut and walked away, my tail and head held low. This was going to be hard for me to get over. I would not, I repeat not, make the others go the same way their brother had.

I shivered quietly.

A bit stirred, I walked into the clearing and looked at everyone around the pile. Barb was having a chat with Victory, their tails wrapped around the other's in a display to everyone else that they were friends.

_Who could be friends with Victory?_

Deciding not to bother about it, I wondered if Fallen Despair was around here. I could use him, badly. I needed his friendship and careful wisdom to help me alleviate what I had just done. Hopefully, no one would see me as a monster that threatened to rip off their heads. I prayed to the Matriarch quietly that that would not happen.

Legacy saw me again, and seeing my crestfallen posture, decided to come over and say hello.

"How's it going? Did you kill Molest Tail's siblings?"

I winced. "Yes… I did. Well, at least one of them. I have yet to murder the lives of all the _innocent _other ones."

Legacy flagged his tail at me. "Why are you so shaken up?" he demanded impatiently.

"I brutally murdered one of Molest Tail's brothers. I had to do it though, as a display for the Matriarch that I am not soft. Both her and Number 6 are pretty determined to point out that I am weak."

Legacy wrapped his tail over my shoulders in a friendly manner. "You're not weak, Revenge, you're just an Alien with a different point of view."

I sighed. "Everyone expects me to be something I'm not," I croaked out sadly. "But I'm not the killer everyone sees me as. The Matriarch, just to even be in her Hive, expects for me to slaughter without end. But I'm not like her! I'm not even her kin!"

Legacy Foretold nodded. "I know. For some reason, all of those pesky Humans think we come from the same family, like these are brothers and sisters we live with. It's not like we are all the Queen's children – she lays Facehugger eggs. Not Xenomorph ones, so technically, we aren't all brothers and sisters."

Snorting, I trekked across the pavement with my tail dangling low underneath me, my gaze scouring the area. "Thanks for your help," I uttered stiffly, "but I really need to go consort with someone else right now."

Legacy nodded at me with deep understanding, though his face blazed, but not in anger. "Don't worry, I get it," he stated. "Go on then – I hope this Xenomorph you seek looks after you well, Revenge."

I jumped ahead of him and started to walk on. The tunnels, although they buzzed handsomely with life, seemed empty to me, for I felt hallow and unable to move my legs, for it was almost as if they were scrunched up, from the pain of the world.

Knowing I had just murdered brutally one of Molest Tail's brothers, for her own killing of my kind, and to put on a display for my Matriarch, my ruler, I didn't want to go hustle out to murder some other ones. No, I was going to find Fallen Despair and talk to him, and if he wasn't there, at the Healer's Bay like he was always, then I could go do a deed or two then settle down for the day. Then tomorrow we would begin our work of defense for the Hive.

As I poked my head into the loft of wounded Aliens, I saw Phenomenon Unknown curled around a limb sticking from the ceiling. I was about to back away when I saw him lift his head up to stare at me.

He sniffed in for a moment to see who it was. "Ah, Revenge Unleashed. Whatever are you here for?"

I decided to slip in, even if just for a moment. Was that not the least I could do? I was in no mood for a conversation, but I would have liked for a chat with someone. "I was seeking out Fallen Despair?" I questioned.

"He's not here," Phenomenon explained briskly. "Just took a leave out into the jungle for a last time to gather those herbs of his before this place will be closed off. Why do you need him, if it's okay asking?"

Curling my tail around my paws, I stated, "Just needed a friend to talk to – someone that's wise enough. I'd go talk to Legacy, but he's not what I'm looking for right now. I need to talk to a friend, not my trainee."

The Xenomorph across from me nodded his head sullenly. "Yes, I understand, I truly do. Well, it's best you ought to be leaving. The wounded might hear you." He gestured with his long, curved tail blade to the rest of the Aliens sleeping on the metal floor of their holes. "And that will leave them crabby for me to deal with. Especially the wounded elders – oh, boy. They're a handful, Revenge."

"I can imagine," I growled, glaring at one of the sleeping ones. "You're right, I'd hate to leave it harder for you. See you around then." With those words, I backed up out of the hole and dropped down onto the floor.

As I was leaving, a sudden blur was sent over my head, and trapped me against the floor. I was about to screech and attack before I saw my spy Darkness Overlord sitting on top of me, her blade pressed to my throat and mouth so I had stayed quiet. Once she saw my reassurance, she removed her tail from me and backed up a little while. Maybe, I guessed, she had news for my mission.

"Darkness?" I asked. "This is a surprise. Wasn't expecting you the night I asked you for answers."

"Heh," she choked out. "Funny story. One of my Alien-friends did indeed notice something peculiar. Perhaps you will want to have checked it out with her? I will be going too, just to make sure she doesn't try to pry you to a trap. It's hard to trust anyone, these days."

I nodded. "You're right about that," I stated. "Let's go. Is the Matriarch asleep? We will surely be caught if she isn't."

I immediately regret that question as I thought it. "Why would she be?" snapped Darkness. "We wouldn't find out anything if she was! We're being _sneaky, _it's a stealth mission. We just thought you'd come along, if you're not busy."

Stammering, I growled, "I-I'm not. Okay then, I guess. We can go. Anything we might need? Our presence must be sensed in there, or at least our thoughts. The Matriarch likes to look into my brain."

"Oh, yes!" Darkness spat. "We haven't forgotten! There is something that helps safeguard us. But you'll need to see my nest for it, for it helps clear your mind and thus, the Matriarch can't sense you."

"This is so tricky," I muttered under my breath. "Okay, I'll be back here when I grab it. What exactly does it take the form of?"

Darkness Overlord glanced my way. "Some leaves. Some herbs I picked up. Learned from Phenomenon Unknown what they do, so I snatched up some before you left on the patrol to the human safehouse earlier. Thought they would be helpful. Turns out they are, it protects us against the will of the Queen. It doesn't completely stop the train of thought, but it helps to stop thinking stuff."

I dashed around the corner and into the clearing. It was now fully night, the black of the darkness overhead had summoned most Xenomorphs asleep, so I had no trouble stumbling across the clearing to find out where this herb was.

Darkness Overlord's nest was easy to find because she was such a collector of things. Her adornments that were scattered all over her hole in the wall were creative and fun, it made me pleasantly happy, but I went immediately to her belongs stack to shuffle through it, wherever these plants may be.

Got to admit, she was really peculiar. I found the oddest things in that stack, rat skulls, stained glass, jars, broken things, leaves, plants, flowers, fruits, rotted fingers. I sniffed one of the jars of herbs and gave it a whiff. Perhaps this was what she was talking about? They weren't the only leaves in here, but I was familiar with the other ones, so those couldn't be it. Cautiously, as to not poison myself, I plucked one of the leaves from the stem and bit it, however bad the concoction tasted in my mouth built for meat.

The effect was immediate. I felt as though I was falling – strangest thing ever, then my mind was lifted and suddenly I was indeed thinking… nothing.

Dropping onto the ground, determined to not forget my goal, I slithered back to where Darkness Overlord was perched quietly on a pole that the humans must have used for something. Something. She noticed my scent and she dropped off of the pole, landing on the ground with a waving tail, her smile inviting. "Are you ready?" she asked me, her gaze searching me for any signs of life. "Did you get your mind cleared?"

I sniffed my fore-claws carefully. "I think so," I admitted. "It felt like I was toppling over, then even if I thought something, I couldn't quite get it out."

"Yes," Darkness growled. "Our signal is quieter. We can go now." She turned tail and started to make her way back into the darkness, getting to the center of the Refinery for a secret way to the Matriarch's chamber without getting caught.

We made our way to someplace after my three months of existence even knew was here. But again, Darkness has been here for at least a year now, and she was a mischievous one to deal with, so I didn't doubt her full comprehension of this place. She cracked open a vent with her fore-claws and held it open for me to jump into, which just ended out being the door to a tubular tunnel in a straightforward path. I looked around it curiously.

"What is this spot?" I asked, looking all over. It was narrow, large enough for two Praetorians to stand on top of each other, and grossly outfitted with something that smelled like it was caught two years ago. And it also had a familiar tang to it, too. Wasn't all that sure what that meant.

I followed after Darkness as she bade on her way. Her gaze was flitted to the right, revealing a hole in the corner of the tube. I sniffed it, and that was what had smelled somehow familiar to me. I placed both of my fore-claws on the edge of it and jumped in, and realized with a hit of shock that I indeed did know this – it smelled of Number 6. This must have been where she slept. However, she wasn't there.

"Wonder where she's gone," Darkness muttered.

_The Research Lab. _

It was a guess, but I had evidence. At these times, though, she had no reason to be sneaking around at night. But that was two months ago I figured out she went there at all. Curiosity made me almost want to follow that clever Praetorian, but I was more tempted to stay here and see what the Matriarch had in mind, for a change.

I plopped back out of the hole and watched as Darkness continued on her way. Following her, she brought me to the back of a tunnel where another Xenomorph I didn't even noticed stepped in and jump-scared me to Hell.

With my ruff still poised from that sudden appearance, I greeted the pretty scary, female Xenomorph that I now knew was the name of Immortal Death. She grinned at me with her vehement silver teeth, and I stepped back a little.

"So," I stated as we slipped up to the edge of the Matriarch's chamber. "Where does Nethead sleep?"

Immortal glanced my way and snorted, rolling her shoulders with a simple shrug. "Not sure, somewhere across here, though, he shouldn't wake up. Now, be silent. The Matriarch is here."

Crouching over, I settled on the floor next to Immortal and Darkness, who were closer to each other than to me, as they whispered. I could see… well, "see", the Matriarch now. Her power was ebbing off the walls, and for once she was perched on top of her throne, without an egg sac. I wondered when the next one was to come. There were no new Xenomorphs because the Queen wasn't allowing any of the Drones to mate with her, even during the breeding season. I learned this from Barb.

"Wonder what she's doing?" asked Immortal as she watched the Matriarch. "She sure is suspicious, that one."

The Matriarch turned to us as if she had noticed or heard, and then snorted and turned away, battering around at one of the chains dangling loosely from her neck she hadn't bothered to pry off with the Combi-Stick I'd given her, which was hanging as a trophy from the wall she's skewered it into.

"Shh!" threatened Darkness. "You nearly got us caught, dimwit!"

"Sorr-ee," protested Immortal. "Now hush up before you get us caught!"

Silence after that.

We continued to watch as the Matriarch paced across the clearing to wherever she had plans of going, and reach down to growl something out to a shape hidden behind a door. There was an exchange of words, and then the shadow scuttled away.

"Who was that?" asked Immortal, her head lifted. "I'll go find out!" And she barreled away.

I watched without much interest as the Xenomorph backed away from the hole we were watching the Matriarch through and dash back into the circular tube of a tunnel and into the area behind us. The Matriarch had stepped away from the door, and approached the side of her chamber, face twisted in thought.

I wished then I could read it.

But, without talking to anyone, I knew that we would find nothing from the Queen's plans. I uttered to Darkness, "Stay here. I need to go talk with the Xenomorph Immortal is hunting down." I released my compressed seizure on the wall and backed away from it, starting off with a low head and tail to the circular tube-tunnel that compromised the official spot that Number 6 slept. Maybe sometime after tonight I could search through her stuff and figure out what the Hell was going on here.

Skitters all over the place reminded me that I wasn't here for the suspicious secondary leader of the Xenomorphs. I heard roars and growls from the end of the hallway I had entered, then the sound of someone getting pinned. I sure hoped that it wasn't the latter follower that was having a problem. But Immortal looked like an intimidating Xenomorph, so I supposed and hoped her demeanor got her somewhere in all this.

I charged in to wherever I sensed the noise might be, and I saw the female Alien standing above another body with her tail held out, teeth clenched in a snarl. The shaky male Xenomorph she had run into was pinned against the wall, shaking as if he was caught red-handed in the middle of a heist. I glanced at Immortal to get her information on the scene, for she had caught up to this little bastard quick. But he hardly seemed like much of a task-runner to me, he was so shaky and his breaths came out in little whines.

"Saw him running for the Hive exit," the dark Xenomorph growled that was helping me. "Like a little snake." She pressed one of her fore-claws against his throat and he gagged; this made me want to butt in and rake Immortal's hand away, but she was elder and thus she was in charge for this situation. Her sneer sent the little Alien beneath her kicking, as if trying to make a break for it, but the Warrior Ridged holding him down did a good, fine job with her work.

"Interrogate him," I urged. "Come on, we're here for information."

The little Alien that was shivering beneath Immortal's grip gagged for a minute then grinned up at me, his smile firm, I wasn't sure it was real or sarcastic. "What do we have here?" he spat. "Traitors from within the Hive? Just like that disgusting Molest Tail? What will the Matriarch do when she figures out her pet is just like that Praetorian? The Warrior that Disobeys?"

Immortal shot me a weird glance, and I swallowed down an urge to just say nothing. "We're doing this for the good – tell us what the Matriarch was letting you know, and we won't kill you."

"You'd kill me?" rasped the little Xenomorph, his tail writhing all over the place as if he was still mesmerizing an escape plan in his head. "That is foul murder. The Matriarch won't approve."

Immortal stepped on the Alien's tail, making him rasp and yowl. "Just tell us what you were being told, and we won't have any problems."

The Alien thrust her off with a goofy grin. "I'm just kidding," he woofed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was going down here to grab a drink of water for my family. You got the wrong Xenomorph!"

Immortal literally face-palmed. I was with her on that one. How could he have been pulling the joke off for this long, then?

"Well, then," I continued. "Do you know anything about a Xenomorph that was being told information by the Queen? We are suspicious of her, and need to find out information. Any help would be nice."

The Alien grasped his chin in thought. "Yes, I could help you. It's best you know my name – Divine Thought. I am a real thinker. I have many wares if you want to-"

Immortal growled. "Just shut up for a minute! We're not here for you to advertise for us. We just need to know about a Xenomorph running for the entrance of the Hive, maybe? I don't know exactly where they were headed off to, but they seemed in a rush."

"Probably Nethead," Divine spat. "But you still have no right to be off sneaking around like this. I recommend you get back to your chambers before someone of more importance notices your get-offs. Then you'll be in for some real Hell. Imagine if Number 6 caught you squealing up thirsty Aliens for a drink of water? She'll be curious as to what you two are doing back here? Now that the topic is on my head… you got any more of you with you two?"

I took a slow nod. "Yeah, we have someone else back here. She's not with us at the current moment because we were going to track down the one consulting with the Matriarch, so I'm sorry for any misconceptions there." I waved him off a friendly greeting, and he took it in reply, but his tail still whisked with suspicion.

"Where are they?" Divine demanded, looking all over the place as if a secretly-hidden Xenomorph would suddenly rain down from the walls, about to cuff the blood and gore out of him. I noted his timid-ness, lacking thought.

"Sneaking around somewhere. Since I don't really know or trust you all that much, I think it's better not to tell you so much stuff. I don't care what Immortal decides to do with you." I looked over at the snarling female Alien beside me and dipped my head. "Keep him here to meet with Darkness. I'll fetch her from the tunnel."

Getting out of the eye range between the two Xenomorphs I had confronted, I slipped back into the alleyway in which I had come from. The tubular tunnel brought me straight back to where Darkness was curled up, still focused on the Matriarch. I wasn't sure she noticed me right away but when she glanced my way she straightened up a little bit.

"Did you notice anything?" I demanded as I charged in.

Darkness glared at me and shook her head. "She is digging through some stuff, but nothing really all that interesting. For the most part, she just stayed to herself. All of that stuff. Nothing I think we should be worried about, though."

I dipped my head. "Well, we found a runner. Not the one we were looking for, but he's eager to help us out. I think if we find enough in him than we can negotiate. It's time for us to leave, because he also pointed out if we stay here long enough we will have a long-lingering scent in these halls. And when Number 6 returns and that happens, she won't be too happy."

Darkness nodded. "You're right," she conceded. "Let's go. Where is Immortal?"

"Protecting that runner, to make sure he wasn't lying to us. I didn't think he was, but yet again, Molest Tail was putting up a pretty good display as well. Said he was running out of here before it all closed up to get a drink for his family. You trust him?" I asked.

My "friend" shook her head. "Haven't met him in person yet. But when I do, I'll give him a good sniff up-and-down to make sure he's not planning anything clever. You know how these people are." She gave me a friendly grin, and I nodded back at her.

"I can't thank you more for finding all this stuff out for me," I said as we stepped into the hallway, abandoning the circular tunnel behind us. "You didn't just put yourself but all your friends in danger just to complete my hunch."

Darkness raised both shoulders in what I wasn't sure was a shrug. "You did save my life back at the Research Lab the day that you disobeyed Number 6. I owe you my life. This is just one of those things to help pay up for what you did for me." She smiled and waved her tail, and I waved mine back at her to show that we were friends. I certainly did appreciate the fact that she was willing to support me for what I did for her. But even if I had done that for Victory, she would not have compromised.

So, Darkness met up with Divine, and she ended out giving him that sniff she said she would. To her, she warned me, he seemed a bit skiddy, but trust-worthy. I took her word for granted, then told her to head off to bed so she could get the midnight sleep we all wanted. And besides, it was good we were leaving, because the herbs I had eaten from Darkness were all starting to wear a bit thin on my line. I was tempted to just shrug off the rest of the effect and get my train-of-thought back.

Trade for a trade?

So I left the three companions I had in the clearing to sort things out. I picked my way across the clearing and found my little hole in the wall, same as it always had been. Barb's room remained quiet from where it was next to mine, and I hoisted myself on into my own quickly. It was silent, and I sniffed around to make sure it was clear. And soon enough, I noted, it was.

Putting my head down on my paws and curling up my tail, I curled up for a good nap, but I remained stirred at all this action going on around me. With all of this crazy stuff, it felt like the world was going by too fast. And tomorrow, I still had the rest of Molest Tail's traitorous blood kin to wipe clean from the Hive. I buried my head in my arm to hide my shame at what I'd done for the male Xenomorph I'd brutally murdered on the outskirts of the Refinery.

* * *

Screaming. It was like the wave of a rush. Suddenly, as a body was taken place to where I was standing, I saw the kin I had murdered on the outskirts that day. He was still pinned against the wall as he had been like I left him, but this time he seemed like so much more… and so much less at the same exact time. I blinked in confusion of this, my head tilted. What in the world was going on?

Then, the next second I stepped, I was suddenly back with the piece of metal in my head, driving a hole and rips and tears into the flesh of the Xenomorph Warrior. I still heard him – his cries and wails of agony, except this time they bounded off the walls and ended up right back in my ears again. After the next agonizing scream, I let go of the piece of metal and dropped back on the ground again, trembling in fear, my arms over my head to make it stop. But it could not… not matter what I did, his voice was in my ear, as if he was still standing right next to me, his breath and rasping voice cautiously screaming all his pain.

I trembled in fear, my tail shaking in my worry. What the Hell had I done?

I woke with a start, shaking all over the place. My heart pounded, and the moon was still out. From where I was leaned over, I got a pretty good view of it, shining into my den hole. I was enveloped in the stuff, giving the whole of the Refinery a ghastly glare.

I trembled at the fear. But the power I had also felt… all the power.

Still a bit shaky, I remembered that the dissected body of the Alien was still out there somewhere. I don't know how I managed, but I put my head down again to get a minute or so to think. About that Xenomorph I'd killed.

Somewhere in the darkness, I could still hear his screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, you want me to just leap at him?"

I looked up from where I was crouched behind the bushes, my tail wavering to-and-fro. Legacy was standing beside me, the muscles in his arms braced for impact. We'd captured two Marines the day before and were toying around with them a bit.

Legacy found toying with Marines amusing, so whenever I had the chance to, I'd go out and fetch him a few, and then we'd eat. I had to admit, I really loved my clever new friend!

He was kind and clever, at least to me, he had a bit of an attitude when it came to other "annoying" Xenomorphs that "got in his way." I made no bother whenever he lashed out viciously at an enemy, I knew what those were like.

Besides, he was very sneaky as well, and nearly as good a fighter as I. He learned fast, and made tactics that I never even knew would work that proved to be better than the recommended maneuver. I was proud of what he was becoming. Whenever I was off doing nothing, he always offered to go toying around with a few of the captured Marines, and I would never disagree.

"No, don't leap. Try stealth." I waggled around behind the bush a bit, to prove I wanted him to be sneaky. "Lure and deceive your opposition. We're Xenomorphs, not Yautja."

Stunned by my teasing joke, I watched his handsome black-and-green-tinted frame as he backed off of the bush and slithered onto a tree with his majestic claws furled into the rough, ancient wood. I swore I heard him under his breath hiss, "I am no Yautja!"

Legacy crouched over and swooshed his tail side-to-side. He seemed determined, his "gaze" narrowed to his destination. He let out a dull growl like a cat trying to reach prey that was desperately out of reach.

I watched with interest as he flexed his muscles and slender body, creeping down the swirling, winding trunk of the tree to snatch the enemies that were stranded in the middle of the woods. Of course, they were unarmed, and they could not run away. We had a major advantage from this side of the field. They never got away. Not once we had used humans for training sessions, had they ever gotten away.

Legacy wrapped his fore-claws around the limb of the twisted tree and narrowed his way along it. Soon enough, he was standing above his opponents with his tail dangling low, but just out of the prying reach of human eyes.

The two Marines were crouched beside a failing fire, eating hickory nuts and smoked salmon and venison. They had deerskin wrapped around their burly shoulders to keep themselves warm, and in their arms held vegetables from onion bulbs to potatoes. Bits of turtle and fish, rank and heavy-smelling, were positioned beside the fire for warmth and cooking. Raw, shredded bits of turnips and radishes were peeled off in the corner, as well as meat from a wild boar or big. Chips of berries and nuts were clasped in the arms, altogether with oats and wheat and nun bread. Kettles of milk and steamed water and green tea were fixed up beside the two as they tried to face survival in the worst of places, the smoke of their fire raising into the sky.

Legacy narrowed his gaze to the two as he started to climb along the limb so he was facing upside-down. I watched with intent as he swerved awkwardly on the perch for a moment or so, and then he was still and deathly quiet, a tinge bit of drool dripping off of his vehement, menacing fangs.

If I were those Marines, I would have been terrified.

Still lacking boredom, I peered out at my "trainee" as he clasped the bark of the ancient wooden log for stability, before he lifted both of his fore-claws off the top of the bark and wrapped his tail around the limb as well, so he seemed to be standing upside-down on the thing.

Interesting, I thought.

The Marine was plucking off some hickory nuts and acorns as he urinated in the alders, a disgusting human practice for waste removal, and kept on his lookout. The other Marine was tending to the failing fire, cursing low under his breath as he could not quite figure out what the Hell he was doing.

Legacy forwarded on the two Marines, before he accidently startled a branch. The two humans looked up and saw the flailing, hissing Xenomorph above them. The Marine crouched beside the fire gathered up the meat, nuts, fruit, wheat, oats, and vegetables before he raced into the jungles behind him, screeching. The Marine doing his business gasped in alarm, zipped up his pants, and raced off after his fleeing companion.

The Xenomorph I was training dropped onto the ground and snarled. "I was close," he offered as he watched me slither out of the brambles, shaking off anything that clung to my exoskeleton like a burr. "Shall we proceed?"

I nodded and said nothing. Before we'd taken so much as three steps Legacy halted and had his face down into the side of a puddle, dark yellow in color, almost brown.

"What's that? Is that the excretion of a Marine?" The handsome, tall Xenomorph stepped out of the way so I could get a quick whiff of it, which I immediately regretted as I drew a face to my burning "nose".

"I think so," I dared, glaring at the stupid little puddle. "Disgusting humans. Let's not waste any more time…"

Legacy was more than obliged to agree as he started pelting off into the jungles thick amid him, following after the fleeing Marines. This was certainly not the first time this had happened, in fact, this occurred most of the time an Alien toyed around with its prey. My trainee was not a fool, in fact, I had liked where his tactic and instinct were going.

Racing quickly after my trainee, who was now behind me for I ran faster than he did, I swerved through the bushes and continued on the trail of the much slower Marines. They had not gotten far for they now wanted to stop for a rest.

"Is it gone?" asked the Marine that had been by the fire. The other one that had left behind that stupid little puddle in Xenomorph territory shrugged stupidly, fumbling around in the leaves for a weapon.

"Dunno, but the next one that shows up is going to be smacked into nothing." Nonthreateningly, at least to me and Legacy, the dumb little creature began to pound leaves and sticks all over the place. The Matriarch Overlord's first mistake – human beings. So vulnerable and ugly little newborn, baby birds.

After he was done with his tantrum, he asked the smarter Marine, "Should we set up camp here?" He gestured to the woods and thick jungle around them, and the other human nodded. He had already been picking through sticks and wood to see which ones would fit best in his planned fire, scraping aside debris so had could have more room for his bonfire. Or should I say failing trickle of flame that wouldn't cook hair if it were close enough.

Finally, when the fire-Marine was content, he gathered back up his nuts and venison, keeping off of the smoked salmon and trout for now, and started to burn a few of the human goods. Of course, that stuff tasted hideous to Xenomorphs. Yuck.

I could, and I was sure Legacy could, smell the wavering scent of hickory nuts and acorn pie as it brewed, the tea they had used with kettles of sugar set up for a fancy dinner. I wondered why humans didn't just eat like most creatures, with their mouths, not their hands. Xenomorphs surely ate with their mouths. We were fond of fat humans that provided us enough meat for a week or so, before we had to go hunt another time and get perhaps a scrawny human that would suffice for mayhap a day or two before the next leave. If we were that unlucky, we would get a baby human, or young human, and get an hour or so worth of energy before hungry again.

These two, the fire-Marine and the dumb-Marine, were both scrawny as if hickory and oats and pieces of nun were not enough for their taste. I noticed little poultry. I knew if they tried to get the Refinery's birds they would never catch them, or even like them. Humans were fond of weird, disgusting, tasteless things but our birds were bitter, large, and smelled like an oil dig. Gross, huh?

But humans' sense of smell fails them anyway. Why ever did the Matriarch Overlord, or to humans, "Mother Nature", give them such a weak sense of smell? How as it an evolutionary benefit? Sometimes, the great Overlord makes mistakes on these things. I'd hoped.

Legacy found his way up a tree and offered to me with his swerving tail to join him. Hopping up on a limb that stuck way out over the Marines to intersect with another tree ahead of it, I kept my head low so that I would not blow the Warrior Dome's cover. He seemed focused, as if this time we wanted to get it right. I admired him for that.

He beckoned for me to stay still and watch as he made his way across the tree. He furled his claws into holds in the ancient bark as he peered down over the waft. He avoided the leaves and sticks that were brittle and would not support his weight. Expertly, like a true Warrior of the Hive, Legacy was making his way surely and slowly down the limb as if he were gliding. Another thing I thought was clever.

Soon, he stopped over the dumb-Marine, and waited for the scrawny creature to get out of range of his friend, which I had been calling in my head the fire-Marine. I just hoped that he would not be off to excrete again. Oh, boy, please no.

But he seemed to just wander off into the woods to collect scraps of bark and nuts that he probably didn't even know what were as he crouched over in the sand and leaves to scratch things off the ground. He picked up stones, sticks, shells, rocks, shells again, leaves, roots, bulbs, patches of grass, flowers, dirt. It was not a very good day, I could note.

Legacy seemed less-concerned in what the human was doing. He kept his tail poised behind him for trouble this time, more certain in every footstep that he took. I could see the Xenomorph's lip curl up into a sneer as he edged across the wooden hold. He seemed focused and determined still, and I was proud.

The Xenomorph I was training dropped down into a crouch with his head held low, a bit of drool wavering off of his teeth as he bared it back into an unkempt snarl. The saliva of Legacy landed in a little pool to the Marine's right, but the pattering was silent enough to not be heard.

Finally, after the Marine was done scratching useless things off the floor, he got back up, brushed himself off, and started to find his way to wherever his friend the fire-Marine was setting up the camp.

The human was loud and clunky as he stepped, despite his weight. I noticed how heavy-sounding Marines and humans, and ever Androids were as they walked. Balancing on those unstable two legs of theirs was bad enough? I had seen things worse than human walking, but this was certainly among that. He seemed so unstable compared to Legacy the Xenomorph who was following cautiously behind, his tail wavering in the air, his teeth bared back into a feral snarl. I admired my little warrior as he followed the Marine going back to his camp that promised food and hickory, meat and vegetables.

I watched with my tail lashing out as Legacy threw himself off the side of the branch and was sent snarling, hissing, at his enemy, teeth bared and dripping off drool. The scrawny, dumb-Marine yelped for his companion, but was swallowed up by the long inner jaw of the trainee-Xenomorph.

The fire-Marine heard the dumb-Marine's call and looked up from his cooking, eyebrows, another stupid human concept, poised in interest. He ran through the undergrowth with a stick he provided as a weapon and crouched down over his friend's body, a long hole in his matted, bloody, brown mass of a hair.

"It was the damn Xenomorph," snarled the fire-Marine, raising his stick to the trees overhead. "I'm not safe here. I have to keep going."

As the fire-Marine subsided back to where his camp was to retrieve his goods and make haste again, Legacy glanced my way with smirk on his face. I shrank back, embarrassed for something I wasn't sure of. His handsome features, not unlike Barb's were impressive and attractive. I saw him as a good, hot-headed father of a massive Xenomorph one day.

I know one thing I never really told you audience about was the whole "daddy" "sibling" and "mommy" problem. Well, now I will.

The Matriarch mates with a Drone and lays the Face-hugger eggs. A bred, Xenomorph pair that have mated before, which is how you show you are mates, will select one of the eggs and give it to a human corpse. Once it becomes a new Alien, or chestburster, then your mother and father that selected your egg care for you. Me, I was one of those special eggs that never had parents. I was one of the unselected eggs that was just put out to chestburst someone. Me, I'm not really special. No mom. No dad. Like Barb or Victory. There are many more orphans in a Hive than not. But since we don't really need mothers or fathers, we fare well and use our allies as sources of food. Besides, we only needed to be watched for a day or so before we became full-grown.

Legacy padded over to the fire-Marine and snarled death in his face, before grabbing his head and brutally tearing it clean off of his miserable shoulders. The corpse, still writhing from its brain's last command, eventually fell to the ground with a scattering of a few damp leaves.

Brushing off his tail of dripping, human blood, Legacy glanced back my way before bounding up the slope next to me. "So how'd I do?" he asked as he plopped down beside me as I slithered out of the tree he'd offered me a perch in.

"Great!" I prided. "You were really good. I thought you were having issues with stealth, but now I see you're almost as good as any other Xenomorph now. I was wrong."

Legacy laughed, the shrills of his dorsal tubes shimmering in the midday sunlight that wafted in front of us, not visually of course, but we could feel that warm sunlight like it was part of our souls. "I figured," he growled. "I wouldn't let myself become prey to one of the easiest tactics that Xenomorphs use."

"You wouldn't be the only one," I admitted as he started to make our way back to the Hive grounds. "But you needed to be faster and better the first time you scared away the Marines. I liked where the move was going, but you were too cautious and slow."

Legacy snorted. "Is stealth not about slowness?"

I padded ahead of him and drew my tail between the two of us, stopping him, alarmed, in his tracks. He skidded up a pile of leaves as he halted, my tail probed up between the both of us. "You need to be slow and cautious, but there is such thing called stealthy speed. It is, well, was, what you were having issues with. You think that there is nothing to stealth except for slow speed, but you'll never reach your target that way."

Tail wavering, Legacy snorted, "Oh… I understand. I'll do better, next time. Can we try again tomorrow?"

"If I can get us in. I had a problem with the Matriarch with just going out to do some training today. The both of us were supposed to help repair the walls of the Refinery today."

Legacy's tail drooped and he lowered his head with a pitiful snarl. "Is that darn Matriarch thinking Molest Tail will just come out of the shadows whenever she seems a Xenomorph in threat?" His voice was cold and promised death. "If I have to, I'll claw the brains out of that Praetorian. Again, and again, and again."

Startled, I mewed, "If you can get to it first. Remember what Victory was saying she wanted to do when she found Molest. If you can beat her to it, then you'll be fine. But she may hold a grudge on your latter, if she can."

Legacy snarled, baring his teeth. "I'd like to see her try," he sneered.

"You do realize Victory is stronger than you-?" I had started the comment, but Legacy lashed out at me and had me backed up against a tree.

"Revenge! You have to stop living in a hole for once and come out to breathe in the fresh air! Victory has absolutely no supporters! If I could rally up a few allies, hopefully you would come, we could easily batter her back like she was one of those helpless Marines. I won't let that little pretty miss prickle pine get in my way!" With those final words, Legacy stepped back to let me out of my tangled trap against the tree and turned to stalk off with his tail lashing with his fury. Instinctively, I crouched down until he was well out of my sight, surprised and startled.

Finally, once I regained my sureness, I slipped back into the rays of sunshine and startled down the path to where the Matriarch's Call was luring us. Hopefully work would help improve my day. I didn't want to get a fuss up with my trainee for the first time. But Legacy, however impatient, stubborn, and arrogant he was, was an understanding Xenomorph and would probably get it.

Me, on the other hand, has a severe problem with letting things go. I was more violent, bitter, and cold, whereas I used to be sweet, kind, and funny. Most people that talked to me I either ignored or snarled at.

But I still wanted the best for the Xenomorph society. My own bitterness was not going to get in the way of the fact I wanted peace within the Hive, not trouble. But no one seems to quite get the fact that peace is harmony and if we live together like that we shall prosper instead of destroy ourselves from the inside. But with a Matriarch like the one we have now, no face-huggers will be laid, thus from there no new blood, and constantly sending the Aliens already alive to war was a good way to get us all killed. Then soon, the Matriarch would have no protectors to ensure her security inside of her chamber.

I trailed after Legacy until we returned to the Hive. Two Aliens were standing at the entrance with their teeth drawn back in snarls. I growled right back at them with a vicious lash of my tail, giving away who I was, and they stepped aside to let me in. I hated the new guards that were out posted at the front of the gates to the Refinery. So annoying, for the Matriarch's sake!

After I had wrestled my tail into the thing for it had gotten hinged on one of the weaker sectors, I could see Legacy ahead of me with his tail and head down, padding on all fours slowly. He glanced back at me, and snorted when he noticed my smaller frame tip-toeing after him.

I decided against saying anything at all, snorting as I ran my claws across the metal floor smothered in dust and debris. Xenomorphs, who were once uncommon in here and always basking, chatting, or eating in the center of the Hive, were now all you could see. Repairing walls, checking the Aliens running in from Patrol or a hunt, making sure food was not poisoned. I could tell from just where I was standing that they were having about as much fun with this whole thing like I was. And trust me, that's not very much. I snorted and just continued on.

Silence Within was standing a few feet away, the Xenomorph I'd been close to since she helped me all those months ago. Her scrawny, elderly Alien frame was currently tending to a Xenomorph who had lost a possession of his in the woods. That Xenomorph was jumpy and skittish, saying that this particular item was of importance to him.

I was nearly down the tunnel when I crashed into the back of another Alien. I raised my claws to swat at whoever was stupid enough to just stand around when I saw Divine Thought, the Xenomorph that had offered to help me, and he whirled around with a snarl and raked me with his feral claws right across the face. I yelped and jumped back, suggestively tripping over a snarling horde of Aliens returning with water, initially making them all spill their carries. The next thing I was face-to-face with was a bunch of furious Aliens looking at me with dripping faces, teeth bared back in snarls.

Divine saw the blood leaking off of my face, and he rushed forward. "Are you alright?" he demanded before I could even apologize to the patrol about what I'd just done. They were still infuriated, I could tell, because they were hissing and snarling as they padded back to the entrance of the Refinery to go collect some more water in the stream that was slowly evaporating.

"Yes, I'm fine," I spat out, reaching up with a fore-claw to rub my snout as my molecular body already started tending to the cut. My nose stung, and now I was also angry with this dumb Xenomorph that acted before he could even think. Did he really ever even bother to notice that Molest Tail wasn't charging down the gosh darn tunnel to gobble him and his family up? By the Matriarch! What an amateur.

"Sorry. And, nothing important with Blood Fire."

I was perplexed. "Blood Fire?" I questioned him. "Who the -"

Divine hit himself in the head. "I'm so sorry, the Matriarch, was what I meant to say."

Scratching my chest bones, I asked, "Who's Blood Fire?"

"Erm, that's the Matriarch's former name, her true name. I hadn't meant to call her that, but it kind of just… you know. Slipped out." Divine ruffled his tail spikes and flattened them when he had lost his anxiety.

I padded forward to give him a quick sniff. "How do you know that? Not everyone knows the Matriarch's former name."

Divine just shrugged. "I found out when I was looking for something. I was never alive when she wasn't the Matriarch, so I guess I just found out. Overheard it, if that's a more accurate term. Some Alien must have been alive at the time when she wasn't the Queen here, and that's what they was calling the Matriarch when they was speaking with her."

"You were sneaking around?" I demanded.

"N-no! I wasn't! I was looking for something, not intending on spying. Some Alien was calling the Matriarch Blood Fire. It's a respectful term for her, I guess. I'm not really sure who this guy was, but I heard them when they were having a private conversation with our Queen. Who do you think this guy is? Revenge Unleashed?"

I snarled. "It must have been the runner that was leaving a week ago that me and Darkness and Immortal found sneaking off that we thought was you! Gosh darn it! Who is the Matriarch so close to that she actually has someone call her by her old name?"

Divine shrugged his scrawny shoulders. "Not someone from this Hive. We are all supposed to call her 'the Matriarch.' So unless this Alien is not from this Horde is the only real explanation as to why they are calling our Queen 'Blood Fire.'"

"Huh. It seems there is some new information after all. Thanks so much, Divine Thought. I'll see you later! Do Immortal and Darkness know?" I skidded to a halt and looked back at the thin Warrior Ridged standing behind me, his tail bristling from shock as I had rushed by him so quickly.

"Y-yes, they know," he answered a bit shyly, before he ducked into the narrow tunnel to his right.

I raced down the tunnel, looking for Legacy again as he had slipped from view when I'd inadvertently crashed into Divine Thought. I searched for my best friend… well. My "best" friend. Barb was still a pal, but we never really hung out like me and my trainee did. Barb was always around Victory, or the other way around. Whenever I engaged in conversation with Barb, Victory would horde me off like I was a little snake that was about to eat her hamster pet.

_Well, Victory, I've got other friends, too. Unlike you._

Legacy was nowhere to be found. I stamped my claws on the ground in frustration as I searched for him. Where had my trainee gone? He was always around the center of the Hive, but now he was not in my sight anywhere. I tried sniffing him out, but his signal or scent never reached me. Anger clawed at my belly.

_Okay, where have you gone?_

But no matter where I looked, I felt as if my trainee was running away from me. I hoped it was because he was ashamed of the way he spoke to me back when we were out in the forest. I prayed for the Matriarch's sake it was that. I really needed to talk with him. Was he really thinking about challenging Victory?

Then it hit me. Victory.

_Oh by the Matriarch, don't let him be looking for Victory!_

I skirted the corridors, screeching to make sure Victory was beside Barb in the center of the clearing where she could not be tangled with Legacy. I did not want my trainee to get injured in a tussle with her. As strong as my apprentice was, he was no match for the Xenomorph that had earned herself a human name in a fight. He wouldn't get destroyed like I always did, he was bigger than me and less likely to get pushed with Victory's favorite attack, but she was smarter than him, nearly his size, and would find some other way to win the brawl.

But I was grateful when I found Victory – right underneath me as I tripped over her tail and landed face-first next to her she was basking besides one of her friends, the one I recalled as Agony Bringer, the same one she had sat next to when the Matriarch was informing us about the Yautja attack.

"I'm so sorry," I started but claws met my throat and pinned me against the metal.

Victory's scarred, leering face was staring down at my much fresher, untouched own. Her graceful features, unharmed and still gallant despite their scars, were strong and tough enough to pin me down. She lashed her tail dangerously. "Oh – it's just you. The _Warrior That Disobeys. _Get lost before you get a fresh new scar on your head." As I lifted up, she grabbed me closer and lifted up her tail. "And next time, don't step on my tail and watch where you're going."

She lashed out with fore-claws I was lucky enough to duck under. I had to ask her about Legacy or at least Barb. But I knew Legacy would not target Barb, whatever had the seven-year-old Alien done to him? But I did note that Legacy wasn't found of the prettiest Xenomorph in the whole Hive.

"Have you seen Legacy?" I asked as I stepped safely out of reach of the stronger Alien.

Victory snorted and ran her gallant claws down the metal before her, before flicking her long tail vehemently. "Why would I know where that little brat is? I never stay in his presence too long or I might claw my face out face off with boredom."

"B-brat?" I asked, alarmed. As far as I was concerned, my trainee was indeed arrogant but he wasn't bratty. Yet again, Victory thought pretty much everyone in this Hive had some attitude flaws. Talk about herself.

Victory flexed her claws again and spat, "That's what I said." She spun around and brushed her tail off of dust, beckoning for Agony Bringer to leave. The loyal follower nodded and bounded off. Victory turned back to me and said, "So why are you still standing there? I don't have what you're looking for, now leave me alone."

I stepped forward. "Why Victory? Why can't we just be at peace?"

That comment which I never should have said was what started her fury again.

"And why can't you just leave me alone? After what you ever did to me, I will never accept you as my friend! You're just the Hive's pet, all you do is listen to Mama's orders! You actually expect me to go groveling down to you when you stole Barb from me? Forget it, face-hugger bitter. You're just the Alien that put fresh human scat in the wrong pile of food. Also known as, mine!" She clawed my face then turned around and jumped off, again having the last word.

I slammed my fist down into the metal with frustration of how bothersome that darned Alien was.

So I stopped by the fresh-kill pile of human parts for a piece of meat to attend with myself, got some water out of the hole we put it in, covered on the bottom with thick tree leaves so no rust got in the liquid, I lapped some up and once refreshed, backed out of the area where some more Aliens were going to get some scraps.

As the midday sun turned to twilight, I weaved through the corridors and jumped onto my hole and bed, wrapping my tail protectively around my paws and body as I rested my head down with a sigh. The air was thick and humid, unlike its once-cool nature. That was because all of the cool air outside now stayed outside because every single hole, nook, and cranny inside of the Refinery was closed off so nothing could get in.

I curled up to get some rest, and finally did. It was the first time in a long time that I had finally gotten a good night's sleep. Although night had not taken over, I was planning to grab Legacy and would do some night tasks together. Maybe the both of us could guard the gates to the Refinery. I'd ask him once I woke up later.

* * *

The fresh cool of midnight woke me up. More Xenomorphs were now at rest now that they were at night, but guard patrols were still out. I hopped out of my hole and started making my way to Legacy's nest.

I found him curled up on the metal floor and I prodded his side to wake him. He glanced up at me and noticed that I was standing there, and he fumbled to his paws and searched around.

"Hey, Revenge," he began. "I just wanted to stay sorry for what I said earlier, I really didn't mean it, and I just got angry and…"

I snorted. "It is fine," I responded, bristling the spikes on my tail in greeting and happiness. "I'm grateful you were mature and apologized."

Embarrassed, Legacy said quietly, "I guess anger just took over."

"We should rename you that," I joked. "Anger."

A frown found and wound itself onto my friend's face. "I really won't appreciate it if you did," he grinned, "but thanks for helping me cheer up."

"Why did he get that name?"

Legacy paused. "Who?"

I padded ahead, brushing past him with my tail. "Anger. How'd he get that name of his?" I dropped down into the tunnel to where the patrols all were, guarding the Refinery at the cost of their lives.

The younger male Xenomorph scratched inanimately at his dorsal tubes. "Oh, how would I know? You think I ask him that question? You probably have more of an idea than I do." The both of us skirted to the entrance to the Refinery to guard its gateway.

"No, I was just curious," I confessed as I slipped ahead of him.

When we arrived at the gate, two Xenomorphs were already stationed there with alert faces and hefty shoulders. One of them, of which two I didn't recognize, saw me and Legacy hobbling over and he spat out.

"Are you the two youngsters taking our role? All I need is some sleep."

Legacy nodded and bowed deep, but not in respect, in greeting. A respectful greeting, if you could call it that. "Er, yes. You can go back in now." He gestured to the Refinery behind him and smiled gingerly, weirdly. "We'd be more than happy to overcome your role as the guardians of the Refinery as all the other Aliens sleep."

The heftier Xenomorph nodded and stepped tentatively back into the hole with his slim head pressed against the back of his dorsal tubes. As he slipped into the Refinery, me and Legacy stepped out into the cool shade of moonlight casting its glow across the place.

Legacy jumped up onto the raised platform guarded the gate, and he beckoned for me to launch myself at the other one. Once this had been performed, I wrapped my tail around my paws and watched the crack of the forests around me, the wavering of the leaves, the whistling of the grass, the screeches of bugs, the screams of vicious birds, the rustling of footsteps of large wildlife, and the splashes of water as stones hit them. A wonderfully peaceful and pleasant name.

I breathed in and scented the sweet, tangy lustfulness of the wildflowers and the bark of scratched wood. The musk odor of those large wildlife and the scat of birds. The faint decree of Xenomorph scent, electric and clear, as well as the faint hue of sweet sap from the dense wood of those trees. All around me, scents and life was thriving, but for an Alien, it really meant nothing. Aliens don't eat anything except for humans, so hunting is not effective unless you find some of those fleshy, meaty humans. Waiting for them to breed like eccentric pet owners was not going to happen. It takes a gosh darn twenty years for human children to grow up. It takes 24 hours for a Xenomorph worm-ling to rise.

The air was cool and fresh on my exoskeleton and feet. Midnight air was wreathing and wrapping itself around me as if I belonged to it. I lifted up my prehensile tail to let it get some of the air. I sensed Legacy watching me with a tilted head, his claws scraping scores across the surface of the platform. "So, what are you doing?" he asked me with a laughter-y edge in his voice.

Lowering my tail to stop its cool-down, I responded, "Getting some of that beautiful fresh air while I have it. Soon enough, as Molest Tail's threat lingers on, there will be less time to go out and you around with prey. So I'd better get some of the sky on me for as long as I can." Again, I extended my arms and let the fresh air waft over me.

Legacy chuckled and wrapped his tail around his paws, eyeballing me curiously. After he grew bored of watching me, he focused his attention back on the wildlife around us. "So you think Molest will strike us soon?"

"Quite possibly," I began. "She really wants the Hive dead, I heard her myself. She was confronting me and Victory back at the human base we were exploring. I just wish things had ended out differently. I still have four more of her siblings I have yet to kill. But they all fled to the forest after realizing their brother's fate."

I shivered as I recalled what happened to the Xenomorph I had ultimately destroyed. What brutality I had displayed! I felt all of that power and strength, alluring and cunning. But I was scared of that consciousness that told me to kill. It was not a fate I wanted. The terrifying screams of that poor Alien I didn't have a chance to know were still pounded so fiercely into my head I could not bear it. Every night, well almost, I dreamed about that pathetic and pinned down Alien.

But that other consciousness, for I would not say that was me, had been the one my instinct told me to follow. Before me and without much other thought, I was becoming a cold killer with a lust for death. Even more than most Xenomorphs. For everyone who thought I was a peaceful softie… they were wrong.

They were _all _wrong.

"I'm sorry," breathed out Legacy, shuffling on the raised platform with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to make you think about all that nonsense the Matriarch's making you do." He jumped over to my platform and stroked his tail down my back friendlily. "But there is nothing you can do to escape her punishment."

Reassured from his cool touch, I turned to him and asked, "But what am I supposed to do? Go out into the jungle and find them? They won't be far because the Matriarch's call will keep them all bound to the Hive. They should be somewhere here, but I'm not a really good tracker."

Legacy snorted. "I know how that is," he chortled. "I never told anyone your secret," he purred, leaning in to me. Comforted by his breath on my Warrior face, I relaxed and let the midnight do the talking.

"Thanks," I growled. "I knew I could trust you. But no matter even for your life, don't tell Victory that or I will be ruined forever."

He laughed, but he knew what I meant. "I won't, I won't," he assured me. "Your secret is safe with me."

So we watched on until the sunlight began to rise in the sky.

* * *

I woke up in my nest, pressed against the metal wall. I shook off sleep and padded out of my den. The air was still humid and dangerously hot for a Xenomorph, but we adapted quickly and that was no initial problem for me as I hopped out of my nest and started off to the fresh kill pile.

"Intruder! Intruder in the forest!"

This was what was ringing out across the Refinery center as the patrol coming in scurried through the gate to meet everyone. Heads of curious Aliens peeked up over their fresh kill they were attending to and started to hiss and lash out everywhere.

Two Aliens, one I knew, Agony Bringer, and some other Xenomorph were dragging in the body of a snarling Alien. It was no one I knew. I sniffed in and tried to determine where they came from, but they were nowhere I knew.

The Alien was dropped onto the floor in a squealing mess. He was… odd. He bore on his chest a bunch of accessories like a… human. I growled in warning. Bands and beads were hung on his arms and legs, and his tail was adorned with strings and other things. He wore necklaces and bracelets and skull trophies of kills. His claws were shaved to a fine point and were sharp. Why was this Xenomorph acting like a human? Again, I wrapped my claws around the metal I was standing on because what a traitor he must be to this Hive if he was wearing things like a Marine.

To be honest, to me, he looked like a human Priest or Shaman.

The "Intruder" was thrown back down as he tried to stand up on his twos. Snarling, he lashed out at a few of the Aliens behind him but he didn't move. In this tiny space flooded with these crazy Xenomorphs, his surrender was obvious.

_Bring this intruder into my chamber, _the Matriarch informed us. _Get the rest of the Aliens here as well._

Following the Queen's command, the Aliens with the Intruder thrust him into the tunnel that was leading to the chamber of the Matriarch. The newcomer adorned with marvelous finds of shells, skulls, bones, and other things looked around this place, perplexed, his face twisted in an unreadable expression.

Once everyone had filed in through the Matriarch's chamber, I saw her looming great form again, 30 feet in height. She saw the intruder and she growled, her teeth clamped together in an impassive growl.

_Who are you? _snarled the Matriarch. _Where do you come from? You must have been one of the abandoners from my Hive gone human like some of the mongrels I have had to deal with in the past. Victory, Agony Bringer, get rid of this thug. He defies me!_

Standing on twos again, the Alien sentenced to death shook his hands quickly, his tail waving, jingling for all of the beads and shells and adornments he had on there. "Oh no, 'er Majesty. I is 'ere to grab something of mine. Nothing you should fret yourself wit'. I assure you I 'ill be gone in days few."

_What? You why do you talk so awkwardly? _spat the Queen.

"I can 'ell you have not seen many an Alien not from own Hive before?" the intruder guessed. "My ship crash-landed 'ere. Not my ship, but the one my Hive travels on, infested with humans that we pick off. One of my rascal companions decided 'e wanted to go off on 'is own." Scratching the back of his head, the intruder added slyly, "Where er' he may be." He searched the Matriarch expectantly, as if she'd an idea.

"You mean you're not from this Hive?" jeered one of the Aliens standing in the audience down below the platform the Queen was perched.

_Who are you? _sneered the Matriarch, ignoring the Intruder's question.

_Huh, I wonder what that's all about…_

"I am A'hedre. A-hend-er. I know foreigners have tough time pronouncing things in my own tongue." Chuckling to himself and his little Priest beads and strings and adornments, A'hedre added sharply, "I am the Shaman of my Hive, overall Healer and sign-reader as to the way you say things."

_I will chat with… A'hedre… later. Put him in a safeguarded housing Chamber. _All of the Aliens submitted to the Queen's command and scooped up A'hedre and shoved him away into the tunnel. I raced over to meet Barb who was watching the newcomer with an unreadable expression.

"Wow! I didn't think I'd actually get to meet an Alien from another Hive before. Barb? What do you think about…? Ahen… ahend…?"

"A'hedre?" Barb finished for me, lashing his tail out with a smirk on his face.

I nodded. "Yeah, that. You think he's worth trusting?"

Barb shrugged his shoulders casually and growled, "I don't trust a single darn Alien not from our Hive. To be honest, I don't think this little 'Shaman' guy should be here long. I don't think he is looking for something. I think something more suspicious to be bothered about."

_I have to talk to that newcomer later. _

I stored that thought and flagged my tail happily at Barb. "Er – thank you for that. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go train with Legacy!"

After watching Barb's face fall, I though rudely to myself. _Worst excuse ever._

Legacy was waiting for me at the camp entrance with his tail dangling low underneath him. Face brightening as he saw me, he bounded over and ran his claws happily over mine. "Did you get permission to go play around with some humans and learn some maneuvers? I've been practicing today and think the exercise should be good!"

I smiled at Legacy. "That's good! But we just went out yesterday. And no, I didn't get permission to leave yet."

Legacy frowned then stepped closer to me. I could feel his breath on my shoulder spikes as he whispered, "Let's sneak out of here and grab a few humans to gobble!"

As I opened my mouth to speak, I was dropped off mid-sentence as a feral snarl sounded behind me. I spun around and tried sniffing out who it was, but couldn't figure it out until she was on top of me. Victory.

"Going back out with your trainee again?" she spat, throwing her face in mine. I saw her beautiful features and long, skinny arms and legs, and felt a bit junky compared to her. I squirmed to remove her, but she reclaimed her grip of my humerus and held me pinned down, still, against the metal. I felt Legacy spiking up in fury next to me. I hoped and prayed to the Matriarch he would not interfere. This was between me and my worst enemy, he had nothing to do with it!

I thrust off Victory for a few seconds and shook off my exoskeleton. "Yes, why would I not? He needs to be taught and stretch his legs, and I need a minute or so to not have your stinky breath in my face!"

At these words, Victory lunged for me and trapped me against the floor. I let out a squeal as I was soon pinned down, with the long claws of the other female Xenomorph sinking into me. Thrashing and writhing, I tried to get her off but she was far too powerful for me and I felt almost as if she was a threat to me like a Praetorian was to her.

"Get off of her!" It was Legacy. I held my breath as I saw my trainee approach Victory with the ruff of his tail and bake spikes thrust up in rage. His teeth were bared back in a hideous snarl, drool and saliva dripping from his teeth. Victory saw him finally and she squeaked and jumped off of me, surprised.

Calming down, Victory lashed out at the younger Xenomorph, "What are you going to do, then? Fight me with all your brand-new skills? I'd like to see you try. Now get lost, kid, before you hurt yourself."

Walking away from the arena which Legacy had staged, Victory focused back on me and began a smirk.

"Now what was I – _ouch!" _

Snarling, Victory shook off Legacy who had pounced on her, his claws sinking dangerously in her hindquarters. Growling and baring her teeth, the female Alien approached the one that had attacked her, initially leaving me exposed on the ground. I flipped up to my legs and watched as the infuriated Xenomorph female approached my arrogant trainee with a feral yowl.

Legacy seemed to have no fear as he stood up in front of Victory, as if she were a mere unarmed Marine like back in the woods instead of a trained and dangerous Xenomorphic Warrior. Climbing up to two legs, which he had been practicing with for combat, Legacy got down and roared right in her face, spittle and saliva dripping over her scarred snout.

Swiping the debris from off of her face, Victory growled and screeched back at him, balancing much more efficiently on her hind legs than my trainee. I watched with nothing much else to do than well… watch. Victory rose up and held a stray paw into the sky, getting ready to strike Legacy across the muzzle. It was one of her favorite attacks, because like sharks, Aliens have sensitive noses.

Legacy barreled beneath Victory's swipe as she lashed out at him. Startled, Victory fell into a heap on the floor, twisting and turning as she regained her footing. Taking this as a pretty well chance to attack, Legacy pounced on top of his opponent and began to scratch and bite viciously at her back and dorsal tubes. Victory hissed and seethed with fury as she was pinned by the larger Alien against the metal with her muzzle, scarred, held down to it. I was sure and glad that the only thing she must be smelling was her own stinky breath. Maybe then she would know better than to wave up in everyone's face with her chest puffed out like a rooster's.

Throwing off her enemy, Victory scrambled back a few feet and licked some blood edgedly with her inner jaw. She wasted no time in her next strike as she threw the younger Warrior Dome to the ground with a fearsome roar. Cuffing Legacy around the head, the two brawled on the ground with snarls, smacks, and claws.

Legacy hinged both of his hind legs against Victory's chest and threw her off, spinning, through the air as she landed with a crash. I saw Victory disappear behind a few crates of unused material, once used for humans but not to us. A pained scream protruded through it, and Legacy watched in horror as the fighting female Alien limped out with a nail stuck straight through her foot.

Backing up, my trainee attempted to run away as Victory used her front teeth and wrenched the nail straight out of her hand. She spat it down on the floor and started to curl her lip up in a fresh snarl. Lunging at my trainee, I watched as she tossed Legacy to the ground as if he were scraps and scream right in his face. Did he smell her stinky breath, too?

Fending for himself, Legacy threw off the older Xenomorph and sent her crashing back into the box. Using her tail this time, Victory leapt high up into the air and spun around once, before flicking the tip straight up and jamming my trainee straight into the rib bones. Crying out from pain, Legacy thrust himself around and tried to pry himself free from the tail blade digging itself into his ribcage, but to no prevail. Wailing miserably, I watched Legacy get ripped straight through the chest and land in a heap on the floor.

Victory's paw was drawn to her mouth and she stared in shock at the motionless form.

_No, no, no! _

Crazy rage made me hit Victory across the mouth with the blunt side of my tail blade. Her jaw dislocated and she screamed from fury and rage and hurt as she turned to see her attacker, hand now over her limp mouth that hung open. Tail lashing, she tried to utter out, "'Ow 'are 'ou?"

I laughed and pinned her back against the metal, smirking. "Now you sound like A'hedre!" I teased. Alien laughter sounded around me and Victory made an unpleasant noise from her chest and throat that sounded like she was going to cough up acidic blood in my face. Using my claws, I tossed Victory to the ground and began pounding her face, head, and muzzle into the floor, sending green blood all over the place.

"'Nough 'Evenge, 'et off 'o me!" begged Victory from beneath me, but I kept turning her head to mush with my claws. She would suffer.

"If you killed my trainee, Victory…" I growled as I stopped beating in her head and turned her body to face me, "I will reduce your body like the cur you are and _use your body to sweep your blood off the floor."_

Dropping the useless thing, I watched Victory's light body smash into the ground and she squealed, drawing her tail in close to her as she tried to let her body heal her jaw back into place.

I rushed back over to where Legacy was crouched over. Reaching out to him, my paws were about to touch his limp form when he turned and looked over at me with a weak smile. Then he focused his attention back on the Xenomorph that had attacked him. I finished off the job and grabbed Victory by her dislocated jaw and yanked it around. "You got very lucky here today, Victory," I spat, letting her body fall back into an unconsciousness state on the floor, her tail flopping aside.

"Oh, what a charming young Xenomorph here, I see." I turned and saw A'hedre watching me from his cage, flicking his long tail as he crouched over in a very human manner with his elbows resting on his thighs, bent like an Indian. "'Tis very violent. Must be very strong and protective of 'er friends."

I shuffled under the glare of the space Shaman. "Not really, I'm not violent too much. Victory just gets on my nerves." Facing Legacy, I sheered at him dangerously, "What did you think you were doing, attacking her?"

A'hedre remained silent as Legacy chortled, "I was protecting you. It was hard to watch you get hurt by that mongrel, and I wanted to help you out. I'm sorry if you disapprove of my actions, but I was doing this because I didn't want you to get hurt. That bastard can go jump into a hole and die, for all I care."

Snorting, I said, "I thank you, but now you can't go off and hunt today because of all that. What you need to be doing is going out to rest. I can't sit here and baby-sit. I have important things to be doing. Just promise me you won't do it again. Legacy Foretold?"

My trainee shook his head. "I won't. Now I shall go tend to one of the healer bays. I'll see you around, Revenge." And then Legacy limped from view.

Watching my apprentice leave, I turned back around to A'hedre who was shambling along with his adornments with lacking interest. Once he saw me approaching his cage he got up on his twos again and peered around the metal and at me.

"You again?" A'hedre asked, flicking his tail. "Whatever is it you want me from, such a ravishing one as 'erself?" Looking me up and down, the Shaman added slyly, "Wit' such a one of my rank!"

Shaking my head, I informed the Intruder, "I am no great rank at all. I just have a few questions that I thought you could answer."

A'hedre watched me with a tilt of his banana-shaped head, then he waggled his claws. "Oh – not more of those questions. I had 'er Majesty throwing out too many of those. Whatever would someone 'of your rank' want from me anyway? Someone just as lovely as 'erself should be going after that 'andsome Xenomorph you were chatting with."

I, again, shook my head and announced, "That's my trainee, and he needs rest. I'm currently under an investigation and I think, since you've been out in the jungle for a little while, you might just have the things I'm looking for." I wrapped my tail around my paws and watched A'hedre watch me with his head still tilted. "So if you could answer all of these questions, I would be more than grateful to you."

"What are these questions?" asked A'hedre, waving his long tail with interest. "It depends on what you are asking that I will answer you." With that last remark he gave a cheery wave and went back to attending his beads.

Getting a better hold on the metal cage bars, I snapped, "Some things you may have seen in the forest. Maybe you have seen a runner every now and then?"

A'hedre shook his head. "The only one I am looking for is that rascal companion of mine. 'E decided to take a trip to where er' 'e wanted to go. I've been alone in these thick jungles for quite a few weeks now."

"With no clue as to where this guy is? You seem pretty lost." A'hedre nodded to confirm that. "Who are you looking for?"

Seemingly shocked that I asked such a question, the Intruder on the other side of the cage looked at me with a quizzical expression, the edge of his tail flicking every once in a while to acknowledge me. "'E is a quizzical one, for sure. 'E moves in secrecy. You won't find 'im here. I know that fore sure… well, you might not."

That gave me an idea.

"Does he only come at night?" I asked.

A'hedre struck out at me with his long tail. "How would I know that?" he demanded, clawing his snout furiously. "It's not like I know where 'e is! Does he come 'ere at night? Is that what you're asking?"

Nodding, I said, "I think I might have seen your companion once or twice before."

Immediately getting frisked up about that, the Intruder snarled, "Where is 'e? I have been searching forever for that little brat. All 'e does is run off because 'e wants to explore this new land. We have been stuck on a spaceship with humans for our whole life. Like that Amanda Ripley? Yeah, one of those. No power, Androids, and Scavengers make up for a whale of a time."

"I'm sure," I said in a rush. "I'm curious about where you come from and all, but can you please tell me why your friend just keeps going away from you? He doesn't want to come back at all?"

Shaking his head, A'hedre growled, "No! And you see, that's what the problem is. He stays in this jungle, attracted to the call of your Matriarch. He is lured to her and cannot keep himself away from her long."

_Uh-oh._

"Yes," I growled again. "I do believe I know where he is. I think he comes here every night, in fact. I tried to grab him yesterday. He calls my Matriarch by the name of Blood Fire. He must be attracted to my Queen!" I was too astonished to bear it. A Warrior of another Hive was fond of my Matriarch? It was too bad to stand.

A'hedre seethed in rage and curled his lip to expose his bared teeth. "What a little brat, that one is! Strays away from us because 'e wants to be the Drone to your Queen's eggs? 'E must be longing for 'er, wants to stay with 'er!" Scratching at the bars, A'hedre snarled out, "I must take him back to the spaceship up in the sky. He must stay away from your Queen."

Waving my tail, I asked him, "Also, have you seen any other new Aliens in space?"

For a minute, the Shaman paused as if he were confused, then he grinned and nodded. "I'm not sure if she's one of yours or not, but she's a Praetorian. Rogue from 'er home, is what she says. Wants to get help from other Hives."

My heart dropped dead for a second and a half. I already knew who that was. Molest Tail. How the Hell did she get herself wound up in space? I watched A'hedre as he gazed at my perplexed expression.

"Thank you so much," I breathed, letting go of A'hedre's cage bars and backed away from where he was curled up.

A'hedre waved to me like a human again. "Why 'tank you for coming and giving me some company! I really do appreciate it, you charming young Alien you!" He laughed for a second, then I heard his calls and weird chants subside as I started to make my way back to my nest for a good sleep before I woke up Divine, Immortal, and Darkness again for another run-down of the Matriarch.

Hopping into my nest, I dropped down on my feet and wrapped my tail around my paws. My claws reached up to my head and covered it protectively, still bothered with the still heat that the inside of the Refinery was getting. At least after Molest Tail, who was up in space, was gone we could get our cool air back.

* * *

Once the midnight air reached me like a dangling claw, I hopped into the crevice that led to the clearing around me and I sniffed around. The faint smell of Darkness's den was to the right only a few caves over, and I went to her first. Sniffing around, I found her protected by all of her goodies. It reminded me a bit of A'hedre. I wondered if he would find an interest in all of Darkness's stuff.

Prodding my friend with a claw, I stammered, "Darkness! Wake up!"

Stirring beneath me, Darkness lifted up her head and stretched her fore-claws out with a long Xenomorphic yawn. She started around for a moment then turned to look at me with a sniff. "Hello, Revenge," she purred. "Whatever is it do you want?"

Grinning, I spat, "We are one step closer to figuring out this problem with the Matriarch! Go wake everyone else up and bring them to the center of the clearing. Also, grab your protective leaf so we can go back and spy on the Queen for a while. I am up to something."

Darkness rolled beneath me and jumped down out of her nest. She flagged her tail for a minute then raced off to where Immortal's nest was, I was guessing. I watched her as she jumped into a nearby nest and dispersed into it.

After my friend had left, I jumped out of her hole after her and stood beside the fresh-kill pile as she rallied up our Warriors. The four of us that had offered to risk our lives trying to figure out what our dangerous Queen was up to. It had still been a week ago that Divine Thought had joined our group, but he was as loyal as loyalty got and I was proud that he was part of our group.

Immortal was coming from the nearest alcove and she saw me. Rushing over with those intimidating legs of hers, she skidded to a halt once she was close enough to me that she could breathe on my face and I could smell her last meal.

"Hello, Revenge Unleashed," greeted the Warrior as she dipped her head to me. "How nice is it to see you here. I was starting to think you would leave us after failing with catching the runner the first time. How are things holding up for you?"

I smiled. "Today, I got to teach Victory a lesson for messing around and injuring Legacy Foretold. I hope she knows better next time not to pick on him."

Startled, Immortal asked, "What did you do to here?"

Still smirking, I rasped, "Ripped her jaw out of the bone place. Dislocated it. An easy fix, nothing she should be worried about. Should have just torn off her whole jaw so that she couldn't run her mouth anymore. Honestly, it's getting old."

Immortal laughed and sent her spikes on her back bristling. "Whatever you say, Revenge. Whatever you say." It was then that I was Divine Thought and Darkness coming back up to us. Divine seemed pleased, I guessed it was because we were all going on a mission together. Darkness and our newest member looked up to me for an order.

"First, remember what I said Darkness. Go get those leaves." After that order, my friend jumped off into the darkness and returnd with her herbs. After we all got a share of that stuff, I plucked one of the bitter remedies in my mouth and swallowed it with a shake. "Okay," I began after that. "I just figured out from our new Intruder a few new facts that might be our runner we're looking for."

Divine growled. "You were conversing with the guy from outer space? The place where hardly any Xenomorphs know? Now, I trust you Revenge, I really do, but don't you think that move was a little overboard? That talking to him for answers was a bit extreme?"

"No," I yowled. "It wasn't. I also figured out something about Molest Tail. She's in space too, right now, trying to get A'hedre's Hive to fight in an ultimate battle alongside her. She wants to lead them to war with us."

Divine interrupted me again to my annoyance. "So does that mean A'hedre is an enemy? If he is working with the Aliens in space and the Aliens in space might possibly be working for Molest?"

Reluctantly, I chirped, "Yes. But I also got some facts about who might be with the Matriarch, talking to her. You know that Alien A'hedre is talking about that he is looking for? That might just be the guy because no one in the Hive would call the Matriarch by her name 'Blood Fire.'"

"I think you're onto something," complimenting Darkness as she swooshed her tail beneath me. "I really do think that. With some extra push and shove I believe we could capture this runner and interrogate him."

Turning to Divine, I asked him, "Now, why don't you think that's extreme?"

The clueless male Alien just shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"Anyway," I continued. "I want to go back through the back entrance to the Matriarch's chamber and see if we can find this guy. If he is calling the Queen by Blood Fire, I want Immortal, for she is the strongest of us, to go to the other side of the chamber and wait for this guy to leave, then strike him when he turns the corner. Got it?"

The long-legged Alien beneath me nodded her head and spun in a happy circle.

"Okay, is that all we need?" I asked. "Let's move!"

When everyone got their herbs to protect their thoughts, again I was absorbed into a cloud of mist and then felt like I was falling, flying, then over again. Soon I had returned to the ground and was peering through the senses of Revenge Unleashed again. Darkness was leading the way because she knew it best. The tangy metal and air was still unknown to me but I made no complaint as I followed after the Aliens that knew what they were doing. Keeping my head down, I weaved after the group as they knowingly wound their way down the tunnels to the back of the Hive.

Immortal was crouched beside me with her dorsal tubes quivering in her excitement. She pressed her lean frame against the floor as she kept that Warrior Ridged head of hers flat against her back, strutting with a kind of swagger that made me tilt my head curiously. Whatever the heck was wrong with her, I wouldn't know. This group was kind of silly and a bit rash, come to think of it. But I had no problem with them. Friends love friends for who they are, not ration them out for their flaws.

The trail to the back of the Hive's Refinery home was quiet and still-aired as usual. I kept that long slender head of my down and tried to mimic what Immortal was doing. She glanced my way and smirked when she saw me trying to copy her. I was almost embarrassed enough to lift my head again, but for the sake of our cover I pressed it down flatter between my dorsal tubes, bothering very little with the twitching curl of my lip as I made my way down the chambers with a flick of my tail.

We had all reached the tunnel and were jumping into it. Number 6's bed was occupied tonight. By the Matriarch! I thought. I prayed to the Overlord that she was not awake checking for Xenomorphs sneaking around. That would be horrible if she found me back here. Number 6 I had not seen in quite a little while, for it was Nethead guarding over the camp last, but I knew she hated me just as much as she used to and would not hesitate for a mere second to get me in trouble with the Queen.

So as we all passed that little cleft to the right of the tunnel, we made sure to tip-toe and stay pressed close to each other. Our scent would linger if we stayed here long, so I intended for this trip to be surely shorter than all the others. Wrapping my tail around the back of my legs so it didn't stick out, I weaved around the rusted metal pieces and brittle junk piles that could prove bothersome to me. I might step on one of those and alert someone. Who knows?

By the time the end of the circular tube of a tunnel was reached I could already hear voices down below. The Matriarch's streaming voice, powerful and graceful and some other voice I did not remember or seem to know. Darkness pounced ahead of me to lead the way, her head kept low just like the rest of us. Her tail waggled so we could all come closer. Brushing aside the current to the tunnel so we could look into the chamber of the Matriarch, I poked my head out and saw the form of the Queen laying down on the floor. She was in conversation with a much, much smaller Warrior beside her who was informing her of something. He was as handsome as he was tall, and his voice was unique and raspy. However, he did not speak like A'hedre.

"No, Blood Fire. There were too many humans by the camp gate and I could not get in for two moments without getting caught." Sighing, I watched the Xenomorph heave his shoulders and roll his fingers around. "I can try again later if you want me to," he started, his face twisted in a gruesome smile. A nice smile.

The Matriarch purred and sniffed, "Oh, trust me R'gdrone. I would not wish for anything else from you. From what I know, you have tried your best and would do no else to see my satisfaction."

I gasped and my jaw hung open. The Matriarch was not talking R'gdrone telepathically with one hundred perecent of her mind, but instead like an ordinary Warrior or Praetorian of the Hive! This was shocking news. All the Queen ever did was make sure she talked in that ringing voice she had. Her "normal" speech was unlike anything I had ever heard of. Curious for where this chat was going, I leaned in some more but was pulled back rudely by Immortal and Divine.

"What?" I hissed out at them, frustrated that they had tugged me away.

Divine snarled at me, "You could have fallen into the chamber, and then you more than likely would have gotten caught. We could not let that happen. I'm sorry if I and Immortal offended you, but we were just ensuring our survival by making sure we could all live for the next tweak of sunlight." I just stared at his smallish form and shook my head.

"Fine, whatever," I growled. "But next time, let me fall into the hole. It's worth it."

As we all went back to listening, my mind sauntered elsewhere. There were things I wanted to know badly about these two. But my instinct to the Matriarch and my defensiveness for her made me want to put down this new guy from space on the spot. But she seemed pleasant with this Alien, this brand new guy, and I had to admit I was stunned. I had gone way too far off the edge of my thoughts as I accidently stumbled a bit and let a long piece of metal fall to the floor with a clatter.

Silence started from within the chamber, and I heard a voice, R'gdrone's, snarl.

"Okay, who's there?"

The two of those Aliens were staring right at this hole. This wasn't looking good.


End file.
